Race

Section 9 of the EA 10 says that race includes colour (for example, black or white); nationality (for example, British or French); ethnic or national origins (for example, Roma or Irish travellers). This is a not an exhaustive list.

A racial group can comprise one or more racial groups, for example, “black Britons” or “South Asians”. There can also be a group defined by exclusion — for instance, “non-British”. Sometimes a claimant may suffer race discrimination on multiple grounds. For instance, a “Nigerian” worker mistreated at work may suffer discrimination under each of the categories of colour, nationality, ethnicity or national origin. Similarly, in cases where a person’s ethnicity and religion or belief are closely interrelated, the individual may suffer both race and religion or belief discrimination.

In Taiwo v Olaigbe [2014] EWCA Civ 279, a Nigerian migrant domestic worker failed to persuade the Court of Appeal that her vulnerable status resulting from her dependence on her employer for accommodation, food and the right to remain in the UK, was inextricably linked to her race. Mistreatment due to vulnerability as a migrant worker is not direct race discrimination, said the court. The judges refused to accept that immigration status equates with nationality.