Practitioner group meetings

The House of Lords in Mayor and Burgesses of the London Borough of Lewisham v Malcolm has just overturned one of the key tests in disability discrimination cases - to the detriment of many claimants.

Cathy Casserley of Cloisters Chambers, one of the team on Malcolm and former policy expert at the Disability Rights Commission, will speak and lead a discussion on the implications of Malcolm and how to proceed in practice.

October 2007

In the context of policy questions raised during the DLR consultation A Framework for Fairness and the DLA's input into the consultation, the DLA sought to develop a clear position on the question of protection for carers.

Camilla Palmer and Joanna Wade - both of Palmer Wade and specialising in employment discrimination law, maternity & parental rights and flexible working - speak on the current position of the law and the advantages and disadvantages in terms of different forms of statutory protection for carers. Briefing 458, Vol.32 contains a summary of the discussion.

September 2007

Changes to the Religion and Belief regulations have created a situation in which there will be a difficult social and legal debate on what protection should be given to extreme religious, political and philosophical views, such as fascism and nationalism, religious fundamentalism, universal theocracy etc.

A talk by Declan O’Dempsey, who appeared in Azmi v Kirklees MBC (wearing of veils by teaching assistants), examines the concept of beliefs that are protected under the regulations and those that are not, and early tribunal cases which have tried to deal with this issue, as well as discussing religious dress/symbolism cases (including but not only Azmi). The talk also touches on some of the recent developments relating to goods and services discrimination in the 2006 Equality Act and mentions the conflicts between sexual orientation and religion embedded in the current law.

July 2007

Migrant workers are suffering systematic discrimination precisely because they are migrants. The Race Relations Act was not designed to be used to protect migrant workers from such discrimination and exploitation, but in the absence of any other mechanisms:

• Can the RRA be used either directly or indirectly to protect migrant workers from discrimination and exploitation?
• Do DLA members have experience or suggestions on using the RRA to protect migrant workers?
• Is there any best practice on this issue to share, or any planning and strategising to be done?

Juliette Nash of North Kensington Law Centre, who has issued claims on this basis and held discuss with the CRE, leads the discussion. Briefing 469, Vol.33 contains a summary of the discussion.

April 2007

This joint DLA event with TAEN (The Age and Employment Network) and Justice discusses the core concepts involved in direct and indirect age discrimination, and the role of strategic cases with the aim of equipping participants to play an active role in the use of strategic cases to resolve issues arising from the Age Regulations.

Presentations are from Gay Moon of Justice, and Robin Allen QC and Declan O’Dempsey of Cloisters Chambers.

March 2007

With the introduction of The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007, this PGM lead by Ulele Burnham of Doughty Street Chambers, discusses definitions, exemptions, and enforcement. Notes on the issue are available in Briefing 447, Vol. 31  

January 2007

The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 amended the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) to insert the disability equality duty – known as the general duty – into the Act. The duty is aimed at tackling systemic discrimination, and ensuring that public authorities build disability equality into everything that they do. In addition, the Equality Act has introduced a similar duty on public authorities in relation to gender.

This PGM led by Catherine Casserley of the DRC and Jill Brown of Outer Temple Chambers examines the requirements of the duties and looks at how they might be used more generally in litigation carried out on behalf of disabled people and in litigation dealing with gender issues. Briefing 445, Vol.31 contains notes from the meeting.

October 2006

This PGM was part of the DLA's consultation with members regarding the impact of the statutory dispute resolution procedures on discrimination cases. The EAT case of Edebi [2006] was discussed, along with indications of the statutory dispute resolution procedures leading to increased formality and an escalation of disputes. Briefing 431 in Vol. 29 contains related analysis.