Unison wins long-running race discrimination case

A local authority’s decision to discipline and transfer a senior social worker in 2021 was because of her race, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

In what Bindu Parmar’s union, UNISON, described as a “significant legal victory”, the judgment marks the end of a long-running case.

It follows two earlier appeals by Leicester City Council challenging decisions made by lower courts, both of which had gone in Parmar’s favour.

The Appeal Court agreed with the Employment Tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal that the council’s decision to invite Parmar to three disciplinary investigation meetings amounted to less favourable treatment due to her race, and the investigation itself was “baseless”.

And while her manager sought to discipline Parmar and other Asian employees, no action was taken against White colleagues in similar or worse situations, the court found.

UNISON said it had “repeatedly warned Leicester City Council against wasting public money by pursuing the case, which the authority has now lost on three occasions”.

It added that the decision “represents a conclusive victory for Mrs Parmar, in a long drawn out and stressful ordeal that she should never have been put through”.