Caste Discrimination to Be Prohibited Through Case Law

Instead, those who believe that they may have been discriminated against on the grounds of their caste will have to rely on the definition of 'race' within the Equality Act, which includes an individual's ethnic origin.

Chandhok v Tirkey

This case was heard at the Employment Tribunal in 2015. It addressed the point of caste and how it related to the protected characteristic of ethnic origin.

Ms Tirkey was employed by the Chandhok family for four years as a live-in domestic servant, initially in India and subsequently in the UK. Ms Tirkey is part of a lower caste than the Chandhok family, and was subjected to demeaning treatment as a result, including being forced to work from 6am to 12.30am daily, not being allowed to use the same furniture or crockery as the family and being forced to sleep on the floor. She was paid just over £3,000 across the four years she was employed with the family.

Ms Tirkey brought claims in the tribunal for unfair dismissal, race discrimination, religion and belief discrimination, unpaid wages and holiday pay. She requested to add a complaint of caste discrimination. The tribunal heard an application to strike out Ms Tirkey's caste discrimination claim by the Chandhoks owing to the fact that caste was not a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010.

Although the judge conceded that the law as it stands was unclear on this point, he held the claim could proceed on the basis that Ms Tirkey had been discriminated against owing to her ethnic origin, and that caste is intrinsically 'bound up' with ethnic origin.

The Government Consultation

During consultation, the government suggested two potential options to address the issues around caste discrimination:

• prohibiting caste discrimination through case law
• prohibiting caste discrimination by specifying caste as a protected characteristic in the Equality Act

The response strongly supported allowing the issue to be resolved through emerging case law.

Interestingly, one of the government's main concerns about adding caste as a protected characteristic was how to differentiate it from social class.

What practical steps can you take to reduce risk and avoid disputes? Please contact Michael Halsey in our Employment Law team, on 020 7665 0842.