Race and religion

Case 17: The facts

Ms Ali, who is black African, claimed that an employment agency failed to put her forward for a job at a bank after the recruitment consultant met her and saw that she wore traditional dress and a headscarf. A tribunal upheld her claims of race and religious discrimination.

The ruling

There was some question about whether the job still existed by the time Ali attended the interview at the agency, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) said; the agency claimed that it had been withdrawn, but had not provided supporting information from the bank.

There were inconsistencies in the tribunal’s decision about this, so – since the issue had been central to its findings – the EAT held that the tribunal decision could not stand.

It remitted the case to a different tribunal for hearing.

Adecco UK Ltd v Ali EAT/0554/06