Discrimination

Henry Davis York's employment lawyers are well versed with the complex web of discrimination legislation covered by the Equal Opportunity Act, the Fair Work Act and the Age Discrimination Act.

We advise clients on a range of discrimination issues stemming from employment or the provision of services. Whether the complaints are related to race, gender, disability, age, sexual preference, trade unions, criminal records, harassment or bullying, we are able to respond and advise on effective organisational change to dissipate the potential impact of the claims.

We recognise that not all acts of discrimination are unlawful and have the experience and know-how across jurisdictions to understand which laws apply to particular discrimination circumstances faced by employers and employees.

Training and support

Our training and assistance to employers and service providers helps them to understand their rights and obligations under anti-discrimination laws. We provide compliance and risk management checks as well as advice on policies to implement diversity as a competitive advantage. We also help them with their policy implementation and management of discrimination and harassment issues to ensure that if a claim is made they are in the best possible position to respond.

Our expertise in discrimination issues includes:

• organisational discrimination and harassment policy review and advice
• training and seminars on employer obligations
• drafting equal employment opportunity policies
• conducting investigations into complaints
• mediations at the Anti-Discrimination Board of NSW and the Australian Human Rights Commission
• litigation in the Administrative Decisions Tribunal (Equal Opportunity Division) for breaches of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW)
• litigation in the Federal Magistrates Court and Federal Court for alleged breaches of federal discrimination legislation.

Dismissal

We successfully upheld the dismissal of an employee for sexual harassment where there was limited corroborative evidence.

Food manufacturer

We conducted an in-house investigation on behalf of a food manufacturer into serious complaints of harassment and bullying in the workplace. We helped our client to identify the allegations and the evidence that substantiated allegations.

Service

Our lawyers successfully defended claims of disability discrimination against transport providers.

Appearing in the Administrative Decisions Tribunal (Equal Opportunity Division)

We have regularly appeared as advocate in the Administrative Decisions Tribunal (Equal Opportunity Division) for a range of  different clients in discrimination claims brought under the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW), and in the Federal Magistrates Court on claims under federal anti-discrimination legislation.