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Was Gov’s discrimination statement part of legal settlement?

Was Gov’s discrimination statement part of legal settlement?

Wednesday 08 December 2021

Was Gov’s discrimination statement part of legal settlement?

Wednesday 08 December 2021


More details are slowly emerging about the circumstances behind the Government’s surprise public admission that recruiters discriminated against an individual with ADHD and autism.

After issuing a statement saying it was sorry that an individual had been “treated differently and unintentionally discriminated against” as a result of their hidden disabilities with no further details yesterday, officials have now explained that it followed a “claim for disability discrimination” against the States Employment Board.

The original ‘public statement’ – sent to all media in PDF form without prompt yesterday – appeared to be part of a legal agreement.

It was headed ‘schedule 3’ and a marking at the bottom indicated that it was page 11 of a larger document.

When Express questioned the Government on this, it declined to provide any further details on the nature of the discrimination, when it happened, which department it involved, whether legal proceedings or a settlement had taken place or indeed why it was sharing the statement at all. 

A spokesperson simply said: "I'm afraid nothing more can be said about this."

This morning, a fresh statement was issued, revealing that a “claim” had been made against SEB, but failing to answer any of Express’s other questions.

“The States Employment Board received a claim for disability discrimination related to a recruitment process.  We met with the individual concerned and sought to understand the nature of their complaint and claim.  We undertook to accept that the events during the recruitment process did not reflect the adjustments required and we agreed to release a statement to this effect,” it read.

“While this is a unique case, we want to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. On this particular occasion, we felt it best to work to repair the issues that have arisen, and successfully support the individual into the workplace.” 

Express has again asked if any financial agreement has been reached, and is awaiting a response. 

CLICK TO READ: Yesterday's full statement...

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