Race discrimination award of £420k upheld by the Court

In London Borough of Hackney v Natasha Sivanandan [2013] EWCA Civ 22, a qualified barrister, Natasha Sinvanandan, has had her compensation award of £420,000 upheld by the Court.

In a 12 year legal battle, she was awarded the sum which included £262,026 for financial loss, £15,000 for injury to feelings, £25,000 for injury to health and £35,000 for aggravated damages plus interest and costs.

Ms Sivanandan applied for a position as a training and development coordinator and race discrimination case worker with Hackney Action for Racial Equality (HARE), a charitable company limited by guarantee. It was partly funded by the London Borough of Hackney, with which it has a close working relationship. She then took legal action against the London Borough of Hackney as she claimed that she had been discriminated against on the grounds of race and sex when she was treated unfairly during the interview for the role. She claimed that she was victimised because she had previously lodged a discrimination case against HARE after she was rejected for a different position. She was awarded £15,076 by the Employment Tribunal for the earlier claim.

Lord Justice Mummery found that the tribunal had been entitled to find the Council liable for the full amount of her compensation after it had disputed the award. The full Judgment can be downloaded here.

For further information on discrimination law or if you require assistance with a discrimination claim, please get in touch with our specialist employment and discrimination law solicitors on 020 3950 5234 or email info@rllaw.co.uk. Our solicitors regularly secure six figure settlements for employees and senior executives. We also have a successful track record of defending complex discrimination claims on behalf of our corporate clients.