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Held EWIF Meeting

As the South Chair of EWIF, Kate Matthews from Boddy Matthews Solicitors held the EWIF Meeting in May 2022 which was well attended and gave rise to many fantastic discussions as to the importance of EWIF and the community of franchising.

Pam Gordon from The Franchising Centre gave an extremely motivational speech which was enjoyed by all that attended. The event also involved discussions around how to best raise awareness of the EWIF community of which Boddy Matthews Solicitors is a great supporter.

2022-07-11T11:12:31+01:00May, 2022|

Reigate Business Guild

Boddy Matthews Solicitors were represented by Kate Matthews and Helen Boddy at the Reigate Business Guild event held at the old council chamber of the old town hall in Reigate to discuss issues affecting the supporting businesses in the borough and in particular Reigate. The event was well attended by the local businesses who provide much needed voluntary services to ensure Reigate remains a hub of business activity.

2022-07-11T11:13:39+01:00Mar, 2022|

Littleton Annual Seminar

Helen Boddy and Kate Matthews from Boddy Matthews Solicitors attended a Liberal Club Event to watch the Littleton annual seminar on employment matters held in the fabulous surroundings of the Liberal Club. Helen Boddy and Kate Matthews attended this event in person to enjoy the seminar. Following this the attendees went onto the roof top terrace to discuss the topic further with wonderful hospitality from the Liberal Club.

2022-07-11T11:19:37+01:00Mar, 2022|

Nick’s Retiring!

Boddy Matthews put on celebrations to mark the retirement of senior commercial consultant solicitor Nick Fieldhouse, who however remains on hand for sharing his expertise in over 35 years in the legal industry. Nick has been an invaluable asset as part of the Corporate and Commercial team and is a noted key lawyer in the 2022 Legal 500. The Boddy Matthews team enjoyed lunch followed by a delicious themed cake.

2021-11-30T16:38:19+00:00Nov, 2021|

Selborne Chambers Annual Litigation Conference, 6 October 2021

Kate Matthews of Boddy Matthews Solicitors was delighted to attend the Annual Litigation Conference 2021 of Selbourne Chambers, in person. The Conference began with a round-up of recent Supreme Court decisions. Kate then participated in great group workshops on the essential grounds of professional negligence and the recent developments relating to the rule against reflective loss. The event was also a fantastic opportunity to network in person again with the legal fraternity over a couple of glasses of champagne and tasty food!

2021-11-30T10:38:38+00:00Nov, 2021|

Discrimination by association: why employers cannot ignore employees’ private lives

Discrimination by association: the basics

The concept of “discrimination by association” – where the party subjected to discrimination does not possess a Protected Characteristic (PCs) but is associated with someone who does – has been around for quite some time. It is most often applied and used in direct discrimination and harassment claims. One example may be a white employee complaining about racist jokes at work. Although the treatment in question is not meted or directed at the white employee, his association with, say, black colleagues is sufficient to justify any offence felt by the white employee for a claim to be made.

But what about claims for indirect discrimination, where the treatment in question is not directed at the employee. You may recall that indirect discrimination claims arise where an employer operates an “across the board” policy or procedure but some employees are more negatively impacted by it than others and the employer cannot justify the policy or procedure on non-discriminatory grounds.

A recent tribunal decision, based on a European court judgment, confirmed that a claim for discrimination by association can be made in such cases. This means that an employer’s policies and procedures will be considered in light of their impact on employees, but where the PC in question is not theirs. Employers may well need to know more about their employees’ associates than they ever did before.

 

A healthy employee with caring responsibilities for a disabled relative unlawfully discriminated against by a requirement to work full-time at the office

In a recent case to reach the employment tribunal, an employee who was dismissed for redundancy won her claim for indirect disability discrimination by association. The employee, who was not herself disabled, was the principal carer for her disabled mother. She was employed as a Senior Lending Manager (SLM) by Nationwide on a homeworker contract. When Nationwide decided that SLMs could no longer work at home on a full-time basis due to the need to provide effective on-site supervision, the employee could not comply and was subsequently dismissed.

An employment tribunal agreed that employees who care for disabled people were less likely to be able to be office-based than employees who do not have such caring responsibilities. As a result, carer employees (including the claimant) were at a substantial disadvantage because of their association with a disabled person.

Although employers can justify indirect discrimination (on non-discriminatory grounds), in this case, no such defence could be made out. Nationwide was fully aware of the employee’s mother’s disability and the disadvantage that she would suffer by the application of its requirement but did not take reasonable steps to avoid the disadvantage. The tribunal also took the view that the identified need to provide effective on-site supervision was in itself discriminatory and, in any event, Nationwide could achieve it through hybrid working.

 

Consider the facts; talk to your staff

The case serves an an important reminder that employers who seek to introduce new policies and procedures ought to, first, consider employees’ personal circumstances and, second, adopt the path of least disadvantage if their employees’ association with others with protected characteristics may place them at a significant disadvantage.

Referring specifically to the facts of this case, employers with staff with caring responsibilities will be wise to consider carefully whether an across-the-board policy can be justified and whether a less discriminatory approach may be used. Failure to do so will be at their peril.

2021-10-04T14:39:37+01:00Oct, 2021|

Boddy Matthews to take part in the London Legal Walk

Boddy Matthews Solicitors are delighted to support the London Legal Support Trust in 2021. The Trust helps to provide pro bono legal advice in London to increase accessibility to all who may need advice on their rights. The Boddy Matthews Team is helping to raise much needed money to support this brilliant cause by taking part in the London Legal Walk in October 2021. The Legal Walk is a 10k walk around the sites of London, where all those in support, together with over 4500 other legal colleagues, will be participating. Please click here to sponsor the Boddy Matthews Team.

2021-09-27T15:20:11+01:00Sep, 2021|
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