For those of you who were lucky enough to watch the ‘captivating’ World Cup 2018 fixture between Costa Rica and Serbia you may have noticed a slightly odd punditry display by former France defender Patrice Evra.
In response to England footballer Eni Aluko’s detailed half time analysis Patrice Evra slow clapped and then commented “This is just amazing, I think we should leave Henri, because she knows about more football than us! I’m really impressed you know.”
Assuming, for hypothetical purposes, that both pundits are employees of ITV (in reality they will be conractors). Would there be potential for Ms Aluko to raise an employment tribunal claim off the back of the incident?
There could be scope to raise a claim for direct sex discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. Ms Aluko could argue that ITV be held vicariously liable for the treatment she received by Patrice Evra. Ms Aluko’s claim could be that she was treated less favourably because of her sex, as a male commentator would not have been subject to the same behaviour.
If you have a concern about sex discrimination in the workplace, then Jackson Boyd’s employment team have extensive experience of dealing with these issues, so please get in touch by clicking here or speak to a member of our specialist team on 0333 122 6238.
