Michael Harris and Others

Case Summary

The appellant, a self-employed barrister at 10 King's Bench Walk Chambers, appealed against the Employment Tribunal's dismissal of her complaints of race discrimination, harassment and victimisation. The EAT upheld the Tribunal's decision, holding that section 47 EqA correctly provided the jurisdictional gateway for the appellant's claims and that the Tribunal had properly applied the law to the facts. The Tribunal's reference to section 39 EqA was superfluous but did not affect the substantive analysis or conclusions.

The first ground of appeal failed because section 47 EqA is merely a jurisdictional gateway through which self-employed barristers may bring claims, and the Tribunal expressly recognised this. The second ground failed because whilst the Tribunal's quotation of section 39 EqA was superfluous, nothing in its reasons suggested it misunderstood the appellant's status as self-employed or that it determined any complaint on an employee basis.

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• •Whether section 47 of the Equality Act 2010 was correctly applied by the Employment Tribunal to a self-employed barrister's complaints of discrimination, harassment and victimisation
• •Whether the Tribunal's reference to section 39 EqA (which applies only to employees) demonstrated an error of law affecting its analysis of the self-employed barrister's claims
• •Whether the appellant was subjected to unlawful discrimination, harassment or victimisation in relation to requests to return advance fees and matters concerning the investigation panel's report delivery

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