The surprising truth about legal costs in employment tribunals

Emerging victorious at a tribunal is undoubtedly a cause for celebration. It’s proof of justice and feels like vindication for those who have had to navigate the challenging realm of workplace conflict.

However, there is a misconception that triumph always leads to financial gain. In fact, there is often a sobering reality of quite the opposite.

Contrary to many people's expectations, winning a case doesn't automatically translate into the assurance of being awarded legal costs. In this blog post, we’ll be sharing an example of a time when the allocation of legal costs was a surprise to those involved, especially the case winner.

A recent case

In a recent case, a man took a financial services provider to a tribunal after being rejected from a job. He held the belief that he was unable to secure this top HR role because the company wanted to hire “fewer white men”.

This case is a clear example of how employers can be taken to tribunal by prospective employees before a job offer is made, which many aren’t aware of.

The applicant of this job found the job description on the firm’s LinkedIn page, advertised as ‘people lead (HR)’. The job was advertised with a wage of £80,000 but while going through the pre-screening interview, the applicant was asked about his salary expectations and answered that he has expectations of £100,000. Later on, he had his formal interview on the 3rd of August.

During his interview with the company, the prospective employee claimed that he was told that the firm was looking to hire “fewer white men”.

After the interview, all the interviewers stated that they had doubts about this applicant. They pointed out that he was very talkative and wondered if he would be good at listening, as well as voicing concerns about his salary expectations and previous senior positions. Upon making a decision that he was not the right candidate for the job, the employers informed him via email on the 20th of August, letting him know that they would not be continuing on with his application. Within this email conversation, he was also told that the business had decided to change the remit for the role and downgrade the level of seniority they were originally aiming for.

The business decided to offer the job to a female candidate on the 10th of September, giving her a job title of ‘people lead’ and offering her a salary of £78,000. This went against their statement to the previous applicant, as the role had not been downgraded.

Upon learning this, the male applicant wrote to the respondent making an allegation of sex discrimination. In his complaint, he said: “You stated that it was yours and the company’s intention to hire ‘fewer white men’”. It is worth noting that the email did not mention race discrimination, despite bringing this to tribunal.

During the tribunal, the firm denied the claims that they were hiring to avoid more ‘white men’, and instead stated that they didn’t hire him as they were concerned his expectations for the role were too high. The judge ruled in favour of the company, saying “An aim to have an organisation less dominated by white men in areas where traditionally that is the dominant profile does not mean that there is an intention to achieve that objective by discriminating in recruitment against white men and in favour of women or minority ethnic candidates.”

The business inquired for more than £50,000, after it claimed the claimant “behaved unreasonably and vexatiously throughout the case”. However, despite losing this sex and race discrimination claim, the judge did not award any costs as they said the claimant had not been “generally unreasonable” and while “this was not the strongest of cases, we would not go as far as saying that it had no reasonable prospects of success”.

This result may come as a surprise to many people, as it’s a common presumption that if a claimant loses a tribunal case, they will be required to pay fees. This is why it’s so important for businesses and employees/prospective employers to really understand tribunal laws and rules before embarking on a case. To gain this knowledge, you can work with a HR professional, like Expert HR Solutions.

Tackling tribunal with Expert HR Solutions

Here at Expert HR Solutions, we understand the challenges of tribunals and the costs that are associated. With the correct advice and guidance, businesses can enter a tribunal case with confidence in how the outcome could financially affect them.

If you'd like to talk to us about how we can help a tribunal case, or if you’d simply like advice on any other HR related issues, give us a call on 01202 611033.

Click here, to find out more about Expert HR Soloutions.