End the phone call nightmares: STAMMA campaign
For International Stammering Awareness Day 2025, on 22nd October, STAMMA is launching a new campaign: End the phone call nightmares: STAMMA campaign.
Influencer “mocked” by football club’s video of stammering
A TikTok influencer who stammers says she was left feeling humiliated after Borussia Dortmund used video of her. More: Influencer “mocked” by football club’s video of stammering.
Former workers, customers and students
- Former employees/ workers reviewed and updated, including addition of Clark v Chief Constable of Derbyshire Constabulary, 2024, where the Court of Appeal held that the discriminatory conduct need not be capable of having occurred during the employment.
- Former workers, customers and students added – new page
- Victimisation>Post-employment victimisation reviewed and updated, including expanding the summary of Jessemey v Rowstock and adding more on it application to non-employment claims, and validity after Brexit.
Oni v LB Waltham Forest
An employment tribunal has held that foster carers can make employment tribunal claims under the EqA against their local authority, rather than just county court claims. The tribunal relied on Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights. This case is being appealed. The decision is likely to have wider significance beyond foster carers, if upheld. See Oni v LB Waltham Forest.
Also updated for this case: Scope of European Convention rights>Disability discrimination by employers: are claims within ambit of Article 8?
Instructing or causing discrimination, or helping it
Hived off onto separate page, and updated: Instructing or causing discrimination, or helping it.
Illegal contracts
Illegal contracts, as defence to discrimination claim completely rewritten, taking into account the Supreme Court decision in Patel v Mirza and numerous other cases.
Illegality, of an employment contract for example, is not necessarily a defence to a discrimination claim under the Equality Act. But occasionally it can be.
Common employment situations where the issue may arise are if tax/PAYE on earnings has not been accounted for to HMRC, or if it was illegal for the claimant to work in the UK, under immigration law.
Employment tribunal fees
The Justice Secretary said in October 2025 that it will remain free to bring a case to an employment tribunal: Employment tribunal fees>Current government policy is not to reintroduce fees.
Likely to recur
For there to be a disability, the required substantial effect on normal day-to-day activities must normally have lasted, or be likely to last, at least 12 months. However, where an impairment ceases to have such an effect, it is treated as continuing to have that effect if the effect is likely to re-occur. The EAT in Roofe-Stewart v MacIntyre Care (bailii.org), 2025 has now said that for a combination of reasons, the legal bar set by this test of “likely to recur” is a very low one.
I’ve added this case to ‘Disability’: longer-term variations, and have also reviewed that page more generally.
Direct disability discrimination
Added Ladbrokes v Omi [2025] EAT 99, a rare appeal decision in which a claim for direct disability discrimination was successful. A non-disabled worker was given extra hours, instead of the disabled claimant (Omi). The employer argued that the non-disabled worker was not an actual comparator, because he was flexible as to when and where he could work, unlike Omi.
Omi’s claim for direct disability discrimination succeeded. Flexibility was not needed for the extra hours available. A non-disabled employee’s lack of flexibility would not have stopped them from being offered increased hours.
Also Direct discrimination page reviewed and updated more generally.
Purposive interpretation based on EU law
Fry in the Supreme Court (eurelationslaw.com), October 2025, added to Brexit: Effect of EU law when interpreting Equality Act, from 2024>Purposive interpretation by reference to EU law.
This is a blog post on a new Supreme decision discussing how EU law and cases can affect the interpretation of EU-derived UK legislation under ordinary domestic law (ie British) principles of interpretation – quite apart from the Marleasing principle and s.6 EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018.
Employment services: Reasonable adjustments
Employment services: Technical issues on reasonable adjustment duty reviewed and updated.
Link on stammering in legal proceedings
Added link to Stammering and legal proceedings (pdf, communicourt.co.uk), on Appearing in court with a stammer>Some key resources.
Foster carers
Added paragraph about ongoing litigation on whether they can claim under the employment provisions of the EqA.
- Previous updates Website updates July to August 2025.
