Legal services news: EHRC speaks out over ruling

People looking to find a solicitors will be interested to hear that the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has spoken out about a ruling made in favour of Mid-Sussex Citizens Advice.

The judgement means that staff have anti-discrimination rights that volunteers do not.

"We are disappointed that the court of appeal has decided that volunteers do not have legal protection from workplace discrimination," John Wadham, the EHRC's legal group director, told the Guardian.

He added that it will now be legal for organisations to discriminate against groups, like ethnic minorities or those with disabilities, when they hire volunteers.

A woman referred to as "X" lost her case at the Court of Appeal after she claimed that Mid-Sussex Citizens Advice told her to stop volunteering, which was discriminating against her for having a disability.

However, in one recent high profile case Miriam O'Reilly, who presented Countryfile, won a case for ageism and victimisation against her former employer, but not one of sexism.

Published by Hannah Carr