Claims against individual discriminators and harassers 





Claims for discrimination can be brought against individuals acting in the course of their employment, such as line managers or members of a recruitment panel, as well as the employer, where their actions are motivated by a protected characteristic. 


Even if the employer has a statutory defence because it took “all reasonable steps” to prevent the discriminatory act (see page 00), individual employees can remain liable (section 110(2), EA 10, Barlow v Stone [2012] UKEAT/0049/12/MAA). Where the facts show that their discriminatory acts led to dismissal, the individual discriminator can be personally liable for all the resulting losses (CLFIS v Reynolds [2015] EWCA Civ 439). 


An employee will not be personally liable if they reasonably relied on a statement by the employer that doing the act would not contravene the EA 10 (section 110(3), EA 10). (See Compensation, page 276)