Presenting evidence to tribunals

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has upheld an individual's right to have a claim of race discrimination heard even though the employers objected on the grounds that they did not know, in detail, the substance of the claim being made in advance of the hearing. The EAT says that as long as the employer knows the nature of the claim that is sufficient. In this case the employee alleged that a supervisor disliked black people and had expressed this view to another employee. It was enough that the claimant named the employee, it was not necessary to state in advance exactly what words had been spoken (Sanni v Smithkline Beecham EAT/656/98).