A recent case from the Court of Appeal has said, in no uncertain terms, that if you give an ex-employee a bad reference (or even no reference at all) because of the fact that they have started employment tribunal proceedings against you after they have left your employment (for whatever reason) you could find yourself in deep water. They have ruled in the case of Rowstock Ltd and another v Jessemey [2014] EWCA Civ 185;
[2014] WLR (D) 101 that, despite the fact that it does not specifically state post-termination victimisation is not allowed in the Equality Act 2010, it should have said it. The employee in question was dismissed for the heinous crime of turning 65. This is against the age discrimination rules and the Court has said that his employer then victimised him by giving him an unfavourable reference as he was taking them to the tribunal.
By the way, just for the sake of clarity, victimisation in an employment situation does not simply mean "picking on someone". It means treating someone in a detrimental way because they have exercised their legal rights ie brought proceedings for discrimination or other such legal rights.
The
Crusader
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