{"id":12696,"date":"2025-06-23T17:06:46","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T17:06:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/?post_type=resources&#038;p=12696"},"modified":"2025-10-20T13:21:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T13:21:12","slug":"third-party-harassment-liability-and-tribunal-awards","status":"publish","type":"resources","link":"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-compliance\/bullying-harassment\/third-party-harassment-liability-and-tribunal-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"Mythbusting: Third-party harassment liability and tribunal awards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-primary-white-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-b5fc8583 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-radius:25px;padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7fc3d43a wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:70%\">\n<p class=\"\">by <strong>Stephen Simpson<\/strong>, Brightmine Principal Editor &#8211; Employment Law and Compliance<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"thirdparty-harassment-liability\">Third-party harassment liability<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Will the Employment Rights Bill lead to particular topics of conversation being banned in pubs, and even the end of free speech? Some commentators have suggested as much. For instance, Geraldine Scott, senior political correspondent at&nbsp;<em>The Times<\/em>, has said: &#8220;Pubs could ban customers from speaking about contentious beliefs such as religious views or transgender rights over fears of falling foul of Labour&#8217;s workers&#8217; rights reforms. The Government has been warned by the equalities watchdog that rules could &#8216;disproportionately curtail&#8217; freedom of expression and be applied to &#8216;overheard conversations&#8217;.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The reality of the proposal and its likely consequences is slightly more nuanced:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list is-style-brightmine-list-item-spacing-small\">\n<li class=\"\">The Employment Rights Bill includes provisions to make all employers &#8211; not just those in the hospitality sector &#8211; liable for third-party harassment of an employee if it occurs during employment&nbsp;<em>and<\/em>&nbsp;the employer fails to take all reasonable steps to prevent it. This will not be limited to sexual harassment, but will extend to harassment on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, and sexual orientation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">The Employment Rights Bill will give the Government the power to introduce new regulations outlining what amounts to &#8220;reasonable steps&#8221; to prevent harassment, including third-party harassment. These steps may include conducting&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-compliance\/harassment\/sexual-harassment-risk-assessment-a-quick-guide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">risk assessments<\/a>, publishing&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-compliance\/harassment\/anti-harassment-and-anti-bullying-policy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">anti-harassment policies<\/a>, and taking steps related to the reporting of harassment and handling of complaints. While it is possible that these steps could include employers barring from the premises customers who harass staff, they are highly unlikely to include steps such as banning customers from bringing up certain sensitive subjects and frog-marching customers who do raise these subjects off the premises.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">However, in its&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/bills.parliament.uk\/publications\/57598\/documents\/5576\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">written evidence to Parliament on the proposals<\/a>, the Equality and Human Rights Commission acknowledges that there is room for a nuanced analysis to ensure that there is a balance between:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">the duty on employers to protect their staff from third-party harassment; and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">third parties&#8217; right to freedom of expression under art.10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, particularly when the belief being expressed could constitute a &#8220;philosophical belief&#8221; protected by the Equality Act 2010.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"tribunal-awards\">Tribunal awards<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The&nbsp;raw numbers of employment tribunal awards&nbsp;can lead employers to think that they have little to fear from the risk of a tribunal claim. After all, the median unfair dismissal award for 2023\/2024&nbsp;was \u00a36,746. Awards for discrimination tend to be higher, but even then compensation is relatively modest &#8211; the 2023\/2024 median award for disability discrimination was \u00a317,218; and for race discrimination, the median award was \u00a310,253.&nbsp;But very large awards&nbsp;do happen from time to time. May 2025 saw the publication of the remedy judgments in two successful cases that involved sustained and serious discrimination and in which the compensation awarded was unusually high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">In&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/employment-tribunal-decisions\/cd-v-vigilant-security-scotland-ltd-t-slash-a-croma-vigilant-2202088-slash-2022-and-4104206-slash-2022\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CD v Vigilant Security (Scotland) Ltd (t\/a Croma Vigilant) ET\/2202088\/2022 &amp; ET\/4104206\/2022<\/a><\/em>, the employment tribunal held that a security guard was constructively dismissed and victimised after he made allegations about a number of incidents that he believed to be racially motivated and that ultimately led him to resign. According to the tribunal, these included &#8220;subjecting him without warning to a groundless suspension and purporting to initiate a groundless disciplinary investigation&#8221; related to ill-defined charges of very serious wrongdoing. He was awarded total compensation of \u00a3360,705.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">In&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/employment-tribunal-decisions\/ms-c-wood-hope-v-salford-city-council-and-the-governors-of-the-friars-primary-school-2408035-slash-2021\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wood-Hope v Salford City Council and The Governors of the Friars Primary School ET\/2408035\/2021<\/a><\/em>, the employment tribunal held that a trade union representative was unfairly dismissed, subjected to a trade union detriment, and suffered disability discrimination after it found that the headteacher orchestrated a campaign to get rid of her. This was after she challenged the headteacher&#8217;s decision to change the classroom observation protocol, including deciding that he would be conducting unannounced drop-ins to classes, contrary to the existing agreement on classroom observations, which had been collectively negotiated. She was awarded total compensation of \u00a3370,564.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"did-you-know\">Did you know?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list is-style-brightmine-list-item-spacing-small\">\n<li class=\"\">When interest and rounding up for tax are applied to the different elements of compensation, awards for discrimination can be substantial, even for individuals who are not the highest earners.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">There is no statutory limit on the amount of compensation that a tribunal can award for discrimination.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Awards can include compensation for financial losses, such as future lost earnings and pension contributions, and non-financial losses such as injury to feelings.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Where an employer has acted in a malicious, insulting or oppressive manner, the tribunal can award additional aggravated damages.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">The tribunal can also apply an uplift of up to 25% if the employer has failed to follow the Acas code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures, where applicable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column lnrs-hide-block-on-mobile is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"border-left-color:var(--wp--preset--color--secondary-gray);border-left-width:2px;padding-left:10px;flex-basis:30%\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-secondary-gray-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-db4c44a6 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained wp-container-1 is-position-sticky\" style=\"border-radius:14px;padding-top:10px;padding-right:10px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:10px\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-4b827052 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<p style=\"margin-bottom:5px;font-style:normal;font-weight:400\" class=\"\">In this resource:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:5px;font-size:clamp(14px, 0.875rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.274), 16px);line-height:1.3\" class=\"\"><a href=\"#thirdparty-harassment-liability\">Third-party harassment liability<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:5px;font-size:clamp(14px, 0.875rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.274), 16px);line-height:1.3\" class=\"\"><a href=\"#tribunal-awards\">Tribunal awards<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:5px;font-size:clamp(14px, 0.875rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.274), 16px);line-height:1.3\" class=\"\"><a href=\"#did-you-know\">Did you know?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained wp-container-2 is-position-sticky\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-bleach-white-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-a36fa716 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-radius:14px;padding-top:10px;padding-right:15px;padding-bottom:15px;padding-left:15px\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Navigate HR complexity with confidence<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">With Brightmine, you can build powerful people strategies, implement best practices and set your organisation up for a brighter future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Learn how our tools, resources and automation can empower you and your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"\/uk\/solutions\/?intcmp=cta|blog|solutions|learn-more\" style=\"border-radius:25px\">Learn more<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40)\">\n<p class=\"\"><a href=\"#top\">Go back to the top<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-primary-white-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-4b7a3f7f wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-radius:25px;margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">You may also be interested in&#8230;<\/h2>\n\n\n<section id=\"resources-search-filter\" class=\"wp-block-brightmine-resources-filter has-text-color has-primary-gray-color has-background has-primary-white-background-color\">\n\n\n<div class=\"ajax-filter\">\n<div class=\"lnrs-resources-search-filter  editor-posts-filtered-topics \">\n\t\t<div class=\"search_terms_bottom\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"bottom_left\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"search_terms_result_count\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"bottom_right\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t<div class=\"loader-container\">\n\t\t<span class=\"loader\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\t<div class=\"lnrs-resource-filter-widget__container\">\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<\/div>\n<\/section><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-primary-white-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-fcdab8bb wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-radius:25px;margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-large-font-size\">About the author<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:100px\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-thumbnail is-resized is-style-rounded\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.brightmine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/18065019\/Stephen-Simpson-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Stephen Simpson, Acting content manager - employment law and compliance at Brightmine\" class=\"wp-image-8924\" style=\"object-fit:cover;width:100px;height:100px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.brightmine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/18065019\/Stephen-Simpson-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/cdn.brightmine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/18065019\/Stephen-Simpson-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.brightmine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/18065019\/Stephen-Simpson-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.brightmine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/18065019\/Stephen-Simpson.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Stephen Simpson<\/strong><br>Principal Editor \u2013 Employment Law and Compliance, Brightmine<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Stephen is a principal editor who has worked on the Brightmine employment law and leading practice resources for over 20 years. After growing up in Northern Ireland in the 1980s, he trained as a solicitor in England in the 1990s but soon moved into legal publishing. He was among the first recruits to Brightmine in the year before it was launched as XpertHR in 2002.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Stephen has worked on a wide range of employment law and leading practice resources, including overseeing the creation and expansion of the HR templates resource types (Policies and procedures, Letters and forms, and Contract clauses). He has written up over 1,000 reports on employment law cases and created practical guidance on a range of HR issues for the Commentary &amp; insights tool. He also had a stint working on Personnel Today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Connect with Stephen on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/stephen-simpson-editor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull has-primary-white-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-bbb7e64f wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center has-large-font-size\">Start your free trial today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size\">Register today to gain free 7-day access to the Brightmine HR &amp; Compliance Centre and stay up to date, compliant and save valuable time<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-a89b3969 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-primary-white-color has-secondary-blue-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/hrcentre.uk.brightmine.com\/freetrial-login\/?loggedInUrl=%2Ffreetrial%2Fnew-user%2F&amp;registrationUrl=%2Ffreetrial%2Fnew-user%2F&amp;intcmp=hrcc-resources|cta-2-col|light|banner|hrcentreuk-freetrial|take-a-free-trial\" style=\"border-radius:100px\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Take a free trial<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Will the introduction of third-party harassment liability for employers lead to pub-goers being banned from discussing contentious subjects over a pint? And do\u00a0employers really have little to fear from the risk of a tribunal claim in terms of ultimate compensation awards?\u00a0Stephen Simpson\u00a0sets out to bust some employment law myths.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":12697,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"wp-custom-template-new-resources","categories":[53],"tags":[],"topic":[67],"class_list":["post-12696","resources","type-resources","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-c-and-i","topic-bullying-harassment"],"_lnrs_read_more":"","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Mythbusting: Third-party harassment liability and tribunal awards<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Will new harassment laws stifle discussion? Are tribunal payouts really low-risk? Stephen Simpson busts some big employment law myths.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-compliance\/bullying-harassment\/third-party-harassment-liability-and-tribunal-awards\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mythbusting: Third-party harassment liability and tribunal awards\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Will new harassment laws stifle discussion? Are tribunal payouts really low-risk? 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