Sacked for domestic abuse!

[Lindtballsrock]

So I have been shocked to find out that one of my friends has lost her job, because she is a victim of domestic abuse. Her partner is an awful human being, who goes through this cycle of being extremely physically abusive, and then convincing her not to leave him by being all apologetic and full of promises that it won't happen again. She has alluded also to him having made threats that if she leaves he will 'find her' and I think she is really scared of him.

She ended up telling her employer about the abusive relationship because she needed to request a specific day off (finally she has made contact with a domestic abuse charity and they can see her that day). Her employer said that he's really sorry but he doesn't want someone who 'gets involved in this kind of situation' working for his company, and he thinks that she will not be a reliable employee so he has given her notice to that she is being sacked in a month!

She's worked there for 7 months and had passed her probation no problems last month, but apparently she has no legal right to challenge the employer because employers are allowed to discriminate against you for reasons to do with domestic abuse.

AIBU to think this is crazy and that it shouldn't be allowed?

There are some things employers cannot discriminate against - like pregnancy, disability, race etc. I think domestic abuse should be included in that list. Since getting involved in my friends situation I have seen there is a petition to get this law changed, link below if anyone is interested. Apparently the government are consulting at the moment on how domestic abuse victims can be better supported at work so it seems like they do recognise there is a problem. I just hope something changes because this is awful.

www.change.org/Protect_domestic_abuse_survivors

She should speak to ACAS rather than MN guessing. I would have thought that being a victim of DV who are disproportionately women, would fall foul of Equality Act employer responsibilities and therefore not exempt under the 2 years employment rule. She needs to get some kind of documentation that this is the reason or at least get some free general legal guidance whether it does, from acas

I do not believe the indirect discrimination argument will be successful.

Yes, women are more likely to be victims of DH, but unless the employer treats men that have been involved in DV more favourably, there is no discrimination.

My understanding is that if it were a protected characterstic employers would have to consider making reasonable adjustments, or at least not penalise someone because of domestic abuse. I guess it would apply as soon as the employer was told that there was domestic abuse.
I don't think they had long term problems as she had a glowing end of probation report last month, I think her boss is a massive tit who just freaked and thought' oh i don't know how to handle this, could get messy, best to call it a day'.
I will pass on the info about sex discrimination maybe applying - thank you.

Unfortunately she can’t claim unfair dismissal she only been there 7mth
She is a protected category eg female under discrimination act. As you say DV isn’t a protected category

I agree that this could very easily be indirect discrimination. The possible will be proving it, as it's her word against the employers, and I doubt he'd be idiot enough to put anything in writing.

Maybe contact a DV charity? or CAB? if she has written evidence of her bosses comment ...

My understanding is that if it were a protected characterstic employers would have to consider making reasonable adjustments

I think reasonable adjustments only apply to the protected characteristic of disability

I think we are getting only one side of the story here. Do you have any idea how your friend performed at her job? Was she frequently late due to her husband’s controlling ways? Does he try to sabotage her financial independence by making her late, etc so she often loses her jobs? You’ve no idea what the employer’s point of view on this is and how many breaks he could have already given her. She was asking for a day off again when he gave her notice, which makes me think there’s a lot more to this than your friend is telling you.

Unfortunately she hasn’t worked there very long and has very few rights until she has worked for a company for two years. It is an appalling thing for her manager to get rid of her on those grounds though and her manager sounds like an utter shit.

I wish her the best of luck getting out of the relationship and finding better employment. I’ve signed the petition. This sounds like another barrier for people trying to escape domestic abuse.

is she in a union? may be indirect discrimination (after all, the overall majorz of DA victims are women).

@Nekoness I've seen her final probation report from July which said she was performing to or above expected standards in all areas, and that her time keeping, reliability etc were good. There were literally no concerns raised at all until she mentioned DV.

@Lindtballsrock

My understanding is that if it were a protected characterstic employers would have to consider making reasonable adjustments, or at least not penalise someone because of domestic abuse. I guess it would apply as soon as the employer was told that there was domestic abuse. I don't think they had long term problems as she had a glowing end of probation report last month, I think her boss is a massive tit who just freaked and thought' oh i don't know how to handle this, could get messy, best to call it a day'. I will pass on the info about sex discrimination maybe applying - thank you.

The reasonable adjustments need to be considered for employees with disabilities or health conditions, not the other protected characteristics.

@Shamoo

Well I would strongly argue it is in fact indirect discrimination on the grounds of gender (which is a protected characteristic) as a woman is significantly more likely to be the victim of domestic abuse than a man. So is protected even on the first 2 years of employment. Generally speaking employment tribunals are relatively in favour of employees. I would ask her boss to put the reason in writing and then take him to an employment tribunal and I would be stunned if she lost (with a decent lawyer).

This.

At what point would the protection kick in though?

I mean, if it hasn’t been to court and there hasn’t been a trial, it’s just an allegation. (Leaving aside the moral arguments, that is the legal position).

She can absolutely be sacked - at any point with less than 2 years Service she has no recourse unless the sacking relates to a protected characteristic.

Is it worth her talking to HR?

Even though I agree this is super cuntish thing to do and it shouldn't happen, I don't think victim of DV should be a protected characteristic

As others have said, sex is a protected characteristic. That would be the logical grounds as indirect discrimination.

Employers doing this are arses but its not that unusual, the general attitude of society to victims is a desire "not to get involved" when faced with the choice and an individual.

You can just sack people who don't have 2 years service.

Questions is.. are you a human being for using DV as a reason to do so?

Better off without both of them. Bastards.

This is terrible.

I know it doesn't sound like much consolation but at least she's not now working for a scumbag of the first degree.

I'd be leaving without working the notice, if finances allowed. Easier said than done if you need the money, I know.

@Florencex

I do not believe the indirect discrimination argument will be successful.

Yes, women are more likely to be victims of DH, but unless the employer treats men that have been involved in DV more favourably, there is no discrimination.

It could be argued that if they don't treat victims of other crimes in the same way, eg a man who has been mugged, that it is indirect discrimination.

@shamoo you mean sex - sex is a protected characteristic, gender isn't (gender reassignment is but clearly that's irrelevant here).

I agree though, it may be indirect discrimination on the ground of sex because women are more likely to be affected by it.

She should take legal advice and taking them to employment tribunal.

Legally they have done nothing wrong. Being a victim of domestic abuse isn’t a protected characteristic, nor should it be.

Surely one doesn't have to solely rely on an Equality Act protected characteristic to avoid being unfairly sacked - an employer can't simply sack someone for any reason they want, regardless of whether it falls within the protected characteristics.
The main problem will be that if your friend wants to challenge it, it is a horror-show to challenge an employer in the courts. So even though it's unfair and absolutely disgusting, there is little your friend can do unless she goes down a really horrible, stressful, expensive challenge. So sorry OP.

OP is she getting any counselling for her DV? Any anti depressant medication? If so, then she is classed as having a mental illness (brought on by the DV) and mental illness is a disability. So she can claim disability discrimination which you can claim from day 1 of employment. I would say that the employer is legally bound to make 'reasonable adjustments' for this mental health problem which I would say includes time off to speak to a DV charity. She needs to speak to ACAS urgently and I would suggest going through the early conciliation process with them. She should get a lawyer or citizen's advice to help. She could also write her own grievance letter - the formal grievance website is a good source of information.

This is too appauling, if one thing isn’t enough. If she has the energy after what she’s been through I hope she takes them to the cleaners, not just for compensation but to sheerly embarrass them for their conduct.