Employment Law
COURSEWORK 2 -ORAL PRESENTATION
Julia is employed as head chef at The Orangerie, Tunbridge Wells a Michelin starred restaurant, She started work at The Orangerie in 2006 as a sous chef and has worked her way up. When she is on duty she is the senior member of the kitchen staff. Julia works shifts, one week working days and the other week working evenings including Saturday. The day shifts are 5 hours long, the evening shifts are 7 hours long. A bonus is payable for working Saturday evenings.
On the 30th October 2015 Julia fell over whilst ice skating with friends and sustained a back injury. She was off work for a month. Her doctor told her that she will always have pain in her back but the intensity will vary. She finds her back is stiff especially when the weather is cold or damp. She sometimes finds her back is painful when she lifts heavy cooking pots and when she is doing her shopping and also when she straightens up after bending down to pick up things that have fallen on the floor. She finds that tasks take her longer to complete than before the accident.
Two weeks ago Julia received a new shift schedule. From 1st January 2016 Julia is to work day time shifts only and no Saturdays. This will be a considerable drop in her take home pay.
Julia complained to her manager who told her that the shifts had been reorganised to improve productivity and staff well-being. However Frankie, the head waiter, told Julia he had heard that she was the only person working permanent days and it was because Management thought she couldn’t cope with the longer shifts and they didn’t want to breach the Equality Act.
Advise Julia as to whether she can bring any claims against The Orangerie and whether they have any defences.
The above is the question to be answered. I will attach the instructions via PowerPoint document and also other material to help you with the presentation script.
Within the script please avoid wasting words in introducing yourself etc, simply jump straight into advising Julia.
You must explain the law
Include relevant statute and case law
Apply the law to the question
Try to reach a conclusion
Consider all options even if you reject some.
Do not simply give an account of the law and cases
Give clear advice as to possible legal outcomes based on legal principles stated earlier.
Stress most likely result.
Deal with each issue in turn.
Identify the protected characteristic
Identify the prohibited conduct(may be more than one)
Explain the legal requirements,
support with statute and case law
Apply to scenario
Discuss liability
Discuss remedies
How does the Equality Act work?
Protected grounds – age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy & maternity, marriage & civil partnership, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation. S4 EqA 2010
-Include definition of disability
-Prohibited conduct: Direct discrimination s13 – person is treated less favourably because of a protected characteristic
Indirect discrimination s19 – Employer has practice which applies to everyone but disadvantages a protected group and which employer can not justify.
Harassment s26 – unwanted conduct which has purpose or effect of violating claimant’s dignity or creating intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.
Victimisation s27 – A suffers a detriment because s/he does a protected act.
-Reasonable adjustments s20: Where ER’s provision, criterion or practice puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage in comparison with those who are not disabled, ER must take such steps as it is reasonable to have to take to avoid the disadvantage.
Also applies where a physical feature puts the disabled person at a disadvantage
Also where a disabled person would be put at a disadvantage but for an auxiliary aid/service. ER is obliged to provide one.
-Vicarious liability :Employer liable for discrimination by employees in the course of employment whether he knew of their actions or not.
Can cover work related social events – Stubbs – consider all circumstances

-Employers defence: S109 (4) Employer not vicariously liable if took all reasonable steps to prevent employee acting unlawfully
equal opportunities policy; training for all employees etc
If employer taken all reasonable steps so nothing else they could have done defence is made out.
Employee personally liable s 110
-Remedies:Unlimited compensation
Including an amount for injury to feelings – see guidance in Vento; Da’Bell, Simmons
Recommendation
Declaration
PLEASE INCLUDE PLENTY OF CASES for every statement in order to support the script. Please try to use the cases from the material I have provided

VERY IMPORTANT- the script must sound professional and as if you are directly advising Julia (the client)
Please take into consideration every aspect of the facts that Julia has given as they are all important.

The referencing style would be OSCOLA