A finding of race discrimination in the UK requires the employee to show both (a) that he was less favourably treated on grounds of race; and (b) that he suffered a detriment. The need to establish (b) separately is often overlooked, in that less favourable treatment is, by itself, pretty invariably a detriment. However, the … Continue Reading
Maybe surprisingly for a country which has traditionally overcome its limited second language capability by slowing its speech and raising its voice, it is not the UK which is in the news for challenging an EU jobs list advertisement requiring candidates to possess certain foreign language skills. Instead it is Italy and Spain which have … Continue Reading
On April 29, the US Supreme Court held unanimously that courts may review the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) efforts to informally resolve disputes between employers and employees. The EEOC, which is charged with policing compliance with employment discrimination laws, is required by statute to first try informal mediation methods to resolve disputes between employers … Continue Reading
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has released its annual statistical report detailing charge filing activity in 2014. The EEOC, the federal administrative agency which investigates and prosecutes claims of employment discrimination, harassment, and retaliation under a number of employment and civil rights statutes, reported 88,778 charges filed in 2014, down from 93,727 charges filed … Continue Reading
Reported this week on BBC Sport Online are the results of a study funded by Football Against Racism in Europe (“FARE”) into ethnic minority representation in professional football coaching hierarchies. It makes interesting, if faintly one-sided, reading. Taking the six most senior coaching staff at each of the 92 professional Clubs in the English Leagues … Continue Reading
In the first part of this piece I looked at the possible application of the US Rooney Rule (the compulsory interviewing of at least one ethnic minority candidate for any senior American Football coaching or management position) and concluded that such a requirement would be unlawful in the UK. I also discounted to some extent … Continue Reading
The issue of discrimination in professional football has again come to the fore through public statements by Fifa Vice President Jeffrey Webb in The Guardian newspaper that such discrimination is “overt”. This time attention turns to the under-representation of ethnic minority managers in the English football leagues. In particular, the talk has focussed on the … Continue Reading