Is this discrimination?

[Dusty11]

I recently had a group interview for a (non-teaching) job in a primary school. I was one of six candidates (all women). Four of the candidates were white, one was Pakistani, and I am mixed race.

I was surprised that the application form contained no Equalities monitoring section, as I understood that schools had a duty (public sector equality duty?) to monitor the gender, age, ethnicity etc of all job applicants. I had expected to be able to declare my ethnicity on the form.

The interview process was one that involved a written exercise, a group discussion, and a then a session with a group of children. Individual interviews with the Deputy Head were scheduled for after lunch.

As I left the lunch room, I was approached by said Deputy Head, who was running the interview process, and quite literally bundled out of a side door and into the car park. I was told that I wouldn't be required for the individual interviews. I was surprised and shocked at the way in which the situation was handled.

A few days later, I sent a polite email to the school asking for feedback, and specifically the reasons for their decision not to interview me. I received no response. I re-sent the email the following week, and rang the school admin to confirm receipt, but still no feedback.

What's my next step?

"He who asserts must prove" - it is up to the claimant to establish discrimination occurred.

@wigglypiggly How on earth would I know whether or not I was the best candidate, given that I wasn't sitting in on other candidates' interviews? That's why I'm asking for feedback.

Burden OF proof obviously. What TF is a burden on proof?

Did you get some sort of vibe from them and how they treated you? I assume you’ve experienced racism before and therefore have signs that you spot? Or do you think it’s so unlikely you would have failed the first part that it must be discrimination?
I would expect a monitoring form for a job at a state school, yes.

@Namechangeforthiscancershit - yes, that's why I posted it! I was trying to explain to some of the other posters how employers can be REQUIRED to give feedback.

Someone’s looking for a fight.

@HermioneWeasley

No, the burden of proof is not on me to prove discrimination - it is on the employer to prove they didn't. Read the guidance.

Did you feel the written task and group activity went well? Maybe there was something about the dynamics which suggested you were not as suitable for the role. Were you the only one not taken forward?

But the guidance says that you need to say what makes you think you were discriminated against. It’s not a licence for a fishing exercise is it?

I’m struggling to see what you would put for that part. There doesn’t seem to be anything that would make it seem like discrimination.

It would be nice of them to give you some feedback. They put a lot of effort into the whole interview process and I think part of that should be setting aside half an hour to call the three unsuccessful candidates.

Taken from EHRC guidance:

If you are claiming unlawful discrimination, harassment or victimisation against your employer, then the burden of proof begins with you. You must prove enough facts from which the tribunal can decide, without any other explanation, that the discrimination, harassment or victimisation has taken place.

No, the burden of proof is not on me to prove discrimination - it is on the employer to prove they didn't. Read the guidance

We’ve all read the guidance. You have to show that there is a need for an explanation. Then the employer has to show that it wasn’t discriminatory. Hermione explained that really clearly.

Our HR consultants have advised us not to give feedback, so that that when challenged like this, we can genuinely say "sorry, we have a policy not to give feedback".

Why do you think you were discriminated against on race grounds?

Bombardier they are not her employer. You are referring to something different.

At any point during the process were you made to feel unwelcome?

@Weightsandmeasures The same legal principles apply. I was quoting directly from the EHRC guidance that the OP claims to be aware of.

@Mistressiggi

That's a really interesting point. I felt that the entire process was shoddy, that the person 'running' the interview was clueless, and the the refusal to provide feedback was unreasonable. I have experienced racism in employment before, and it is rarely up front racial slurs. More usually, it is veiled in assumptions that a candidate "won't fit in".

I'm not sure what you are trying to achieve by going the route you are suggesting.

If you end up being employed, it will be reluctantly by an employer who didn't want you working for them, nobody wants to work like that.

You've still given us no grounds to suggest that you were treated in a discriminatory manner.

.

Is there truly no part of you that feels you weren’t the best person for the job? Overwhelming narcissism if so.

What outcome are you hoping for?

@Dusty11

Given your experience of unprofessional behaviour you have described, why not raise a complaint with the school in the first instance?

Follow their complaints policy to the letter in terms of how you communicate your grievance - describe the behaviour/conduct that you were unhappy with, and the lack of response to your request for feedback.

Irrespective of policies, it's just good manners to reply to a request for feedback even if its to say "sorry, we don't do that".

@FixTheBone
No, this is not an employer that I would now wish to work for.
However, I would like some feedback on my interview, and I would also want them to improve their Equalities monitoring - as it clearly sucks!

By your own admission Op, they sound shoddy & clueless but nothing you say implies racism. By all means progress it if you genuinely feel you were discriminated against (as if you were, that's abhorrent) but nothing you've stated so far indicates that that was the case.