Bus operator successfully defends discrimination claim by passenger

Backhouse Jones have recently acted for a bus company in the defence of a claim brought by a passenger for discrimination, harassment and victimisation relating to race. The background to the claim was that, in summary, when the customer was boarding the bus, he passed the driver, flashing his pass and continued to make his way to a seat. The driver whistled for the passenger to come back to the cab, so the driver could properly check his pass. When the passenger confronted the driver on the fact that he had whistled at him, which the passenger considered was unacceptable, the driver allegedly shouted along the lines of “did you want me to drag you back?”

When the passenger submitted an email complaint to the company about this incident, his email was ignored. The passenger sent a second email and, although this was then investigated by the company, due to an administrative error, the outcome of the investigation was not reported back to the passenger.

The passenger considered these two incidents and felt that they were racially motivated. He therefore brought a claim against the company under the Equality Act 2010 for compensation for the loss he had suffered, in terms of mental distress, plus aggravated damages, as a result of the discrimination, harassment and victimisation he was subject to.

Backhouse Jones defended the claim on behalf of the bus company on the basis that there was nothing to suggest that any of the incidents occurred as a result of the passenger’s race and, even if it had, that the passenger hadn’t suffered any loss as a result. The bus company also relied on the defence under section 109(4) of the Equality Act 2010, that it had taken all reasonable steps to prevent the act complained of, through providing training to its drivers and having policies in place to prevent discrimination, harassment and victimisation.

The claim was considered complex and was allocated to complexity band 4 of the intermediate track, which is the highest complexity band for this value of claim.

The bus company’s defence was successful on all fronts. The judge found that the driver and company had not discriminated against, harassed or victimised the passenger on the grounds of race. The judge said that even if they had, the company would have been able to rely on the defence under section 109(4). The judge went on to say that, even if discrimination, harassment and/or victimisation had occurred, the level of damages awarded would have been nowhere near that claimed by the passenger.

The claim was dismissed and the passenger was ordered to pay the bus company’s legal costs, fixed at £48,752.95.

Backhouse Jones are routinely instructed to defend passenger claims of this nature. Should you need assistance regarding a potential complaint, claim or procedure relating to discrimination, please speak to a member of our commercial litigation team.

This article was written by Ellie Kenyon.