Asking questions about suspected discrimination 





The long-established statutory discrimination questionnaire procedure was abolished in April 2014. This procedure had given potential claimants a formal opportunity to ask their employer structured written questions before deciding whether to bring a claim. The tribunal had a statutory power to draw “adverse inferences” of discrimination from evasive or inaccurate responses.





The statutory procedure has been replaced by informal Acas Guidance, Asking and responding to questions of discrimination in the workplace. The Acas guidance provides a template encouraging potential claimants to keep their questions relevant and not excessive. Inconsistent or poor answers can still be taken into account by the tribunal, but the formal statutory power to draw inferences of discrimination has been abolished.


Tribunals expect claimants (including unrepresented ones) to make their own case before the tribunal, by proving facts from which discrimination could be inferred (Royal Mail Group Limited v Efobi [2019] EWCA Civ 18). Without this evidence, the claim is likely to fail. 


www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/m/p/Asking-and-responding-to-questions-of-discrimination-in-the-workplace.pdf