Injury to Feelings
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8.4.2010 Taylor v XLN Telecom Limited In Taylor v XLN Telecom Limited, the Employment Appeals Tribunal decided that, in a discrimination claim, a claimant is entitled to recover for any injury to feelings and/or personal injury attributable to the discriminatory act without having to prove that the injury resulted from actual knowledge of the discrimination. At the first hearing, the Tribunal had found that the dismissal of a black Claimant had been unfair and constituted unlawful (racially-motivated) victimisation. However, they had declined to make an award of injury to feelings because his distress arose from the manner of his dismissal itself rather than from any knowledge of the discrimination that he had suffered in relation to his dismissal. The Tribunal therefore found that they were bound by the decision in the 1981 case of Skyrail Oceanic Ltd v Coleman that, in order that damages can be claimed, "any injury to feelings must result from the knowledge that it was an act of discrimination which brought about a dismissal..." On appeal, the EAT held that the findings of the Skyrail case had been misunderstood and that there was no requirement to prove knowledge of the act of discrimination to recover for any injury to feelings. The Claimant could therefore recover damages for any proven psychiatric injury (or injury to feelings) caused by the dismissal, irrespective of what he knew or did not know about the motivation of his employer's decision to dismiss. The case was sent back to the Tribunal so that it could consider the relevant amount of damages payable for injury to the Claimant’s health and feelings.
This bulletin is for general guidance purposes only and should not be used for any other purpose.
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