Scenario #1: The Administrative Decisions Tribunal has found that a transport company discriminated against a woman on the grounds of carers' responsibilities by imposing a requirement that its employees work full time.
The woman had asked to work three days per week for a period of time as she had been unable to find suitable child care but had arranged to take her daughter to her mother's place 25 kilometres away.
The company had refused on the basis that they needed the woman to work full-time as she was a manager, and they believed her proposal was unworkable. The woman subsequently resigned.
The Tribunal found in the circumstances the requirement to work full-time was unreasonable. It found that the company had failed to properly consider the woman's proposal and had responded to it in a "knee-jerk" way. The company was ordered to pay the woman $16,000. Reddy v International Cargo Express [2004] NSWADT 218
Scenario #2: The NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal has partially upheld a claim that the employer unlawfully discriminated against a new mother on the basis of her caring responsibilities.
The company refused her request to return to work part-time following maternity leave. They offered her alternative jobs that were part-time, however they weren't as well paid or as convenient. They also discriminated against her when they banned her from speaking Arabic at work.
The Tribunal found that the company failed to give full and proper consideration to whether the travel consultant could perform her role part-time on the basis she proposed, or a variation on her proposal.
The company also discriminated against the consultant on the basis of race when it directed her not to speak in Arabic at work, the Tribunal found.
The employer was ordered to pay the consultant $5,000 in damages. Tleyji v The TravelSpirit Group Pty Ltd [2005] NSWADT 294
- Sex discrimination
- Pregnancy discrimination
- Age discrimination
- Multiple discrimination
- Race discrimination
- Homosexual discrimination
- Transgender discrimination
- Disability discrimination
- Carers discrimination
- Family Responsibilities discrimination
- Maternity Leave
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