Caste is included within race discrimination

In Chandhok and another v Tirkey, the EAT has rejected an appeal to strike-out a race discrimination claim, the subject matter of which was the Claimant’s caste. Despite the Government being required to amend the Equality Act to expressly provide that caste is protected under one of the protected characteristics in the Equality Act, but to date it has not done so, the EAT nonetheless held that the definition of “race” in the Act covered ethnic origin and this is wide enough to encompass caste.

This legal update is provided for general information purposes only and should not be applied to specific circumstances without prior consultation with us.

For further details on any of the issues covered in this update please contact Gemma Ospedale, Partner in Employment on 020 7583 2222.