race discrimination – meaning of detriment

To be successful in a race discrimination and victimisation claim the claimant must establish that any less favourable treatment suffered as a result of the discrimination or victimisation amounts to a detriment. The meaning of detriment in discrimination claims has recently been considered by the Employment Appeals Tribunal (“EAT”) in Bayode v Chief Constable of Derbyshire. The appeal was made by Mr Bayode (“B”) a Police Officer who brought race discrimination claims against his employer, the Derbyshire Constabulary. B had a troubled history with the Police Force and had previously made allegations of race discrimination. As a result of this B’s colleagues were wary that he might make a complaint against them so they made a note of any incidents in their Police Notebooks. B did not know that his colleagues were taking these notes and only became aware of the fact when they were disclosed during Tribunal proceedings. B argued that the making of the notes, where no inappropriate behaviour on his part had taken place, was a detriment. The EAT rejected B’s appeal and found that the making and contents of the entries in the Police Notebooks did not amount to a detriment.