23 August 2002
Two of the five biggest awards for unlawful discrimination made by employment tribunals last year were against local authorities, research published this week has shown.
A survey by Equal Opportunities Review of the 329 discrimination cases heard by tribunals in 2001 has shown that the single largest payout, for £278,801, was awarded against Sunderland City Council after it lost a claim brought against it by a disabled woman.
Another council, the London Borough of Lewisham, also fell foul of disability discrimination legislation and was ordered to pay damages of £129,924, to a social worker suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after being attacked at work. Damages of more than £100,000 were awarded in just three other cases in 2001.
The Sunderland award is the record amount awarded for a disability claim. The council was ordered to pay the money to a woman suffering from a work-related injury caused by her use of computers. Sunderland was found to be liable because it had persistently failed to make 'reasonable adjustments' to her work arrangements.
The three largest personal injury awards, where the victim has suffered a physical ailment related to the discrimination they have suffered, were all made against local authorities.
Lewisham faced the largest award, for £18,000, as part of the record disability case.
Essex County Council had to pay out £17,000 to a teacher who suffered 'psychiatric damage' after experiencing racial and sexual discrimination.
The London Borough of Greenwich was ordered to pay £7,000 in personal injury damages to a man who suffered depression and sexual dysfunction as a result of the racism he suffered.
Report author Kate Godwin said: 'Many of the awards had been made against organisations that already had equal opportunities policies in place. The way staff handle equal opportunities and diversity must be developed into workable policies, which managers implement throughout the organisation.'
Rob Pinkham, deputy director of the Employers' Organisation, said it had been working closely with the various statutory equalities bodies. 'We have taken a leading role and developed a generic equalities standard, which we are helping authorities to implement so they can strive for higher standards,' he said.
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