Clause 44 - Discrimination
Equality Bill [Lords]
10:45 am
Dominic Grieve (Shadow Attorney General, (Assist the Home Affairs Team); Beaconsfield, Conservative)
I am very mindful of that and, from my memory of employment law, I can tell how the clause originated. It is possible for somebody to bring in good faith a claim that turns out not to have been justified. I should not regard it provision for that as improper. Somebody may believe that they have a justifiable grievance, and they may want to have it considered by a tribunal. However, that is slightly different from a false allegation. I find extremely difficult the juxtaposition of a false allegation with an allegation made in good faith.
When one focuses on what the Bill intends to achieve, one sees that we are talking not of the esoteric complexities of employment law, but of precise allegations. If an allegation is false and not mistaken, by its very nature, giving the words their ordinary English meaning, it cannot have been brought in good faith at all. That is why I find the juxtaposition of the two terms so odd. That was the point that I was trying to make.