Discrimination

Where a case involves alleged direct discrimination:

(i) the tribunal has to determine the reason why the claimant was treated as he was;
(ii) if the tribunal is satisfied that the prohibited ground is one of the reasons for the treatment, that is sufficient to establish discrimination (it need not be the only or even the main reason; it is sufficient that it is significant in the sense of being more than trivial);
(iii) tribunals frequently have to infer discrimination from all the material facts. The first stage places a burden on the claimant to establish a prima facie case of discrimination; if the claimant proves such facts, the burden shifts to the employer who can only discharge the burden by proving on the balance of probabilities that the treatment was not on the prohibited ground;
(iv) the mere fact that the claimant is treated unreasonably does not justify an inference of unlawful discrimination to satisfy stage one (if the employer shows that the reason