Employers facing discrimination or sexual harassment claims within their businesses can find themselves in a difficult situation. They may be unaware of any discriminatory acts or harassment that have occurred within their organisation until they are put on notice through an employment claim and are faced with litigation.
The general principle is that employers will be liable for harassment and discriminatory acts undertaken by their employees unless they can demonstrate that they have taken ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent those acts from taking place.1 This is known as the statutory defence under the Equality Act 2010.1
Examples of reasonable steps can include making all employees aware of any diversity, equality and inclusion policies, implementing those policies and providing adequate training to staff.1 Understanding what this defence means in practice is important for employers to…
