Race discrimination by association claim not upheld by ET

In the case of Mr J McMillan v Beacon Education MAT Ltd, the employment tribunal (ET) dismissed all claims raised by Mr McMillan: breach of contract, wrongful dismissal and direct race discrimination. Additionally, a £500 deposit, provided by Mr McMillan, was ordered to be paid to the trust’s solicitors with interest.

Mr McMillan, who describes himself as Scottish, alleged he was subjected to discriminatory treatment due to his wife and children being of Vietnamese ethnicity. This raised the legal question of direct discrimination by association, a form of discrimination established under s13(1) of the Equality Act, which protects individuals from less favourable treatment not because of their own race, but because of their association with someone of a particular racial or ethnic group.

Background and claims

Mr McMillan brought his claims following the withdrawal of a job offer by the trust. He alleged that this was not only procedurally and contractually unfair but that he was also subjected to race discrimination linked to his family ties. He claimed that he was treated less favourably because of his Vietnamese family members, pointing to alleged conduct by his employer which he believed demonstrated bias.

In response, the trust denied all claims and argued that the withdrawal of the job offer was because:

• There had been no receipt of successful completion of a DBS check because they had been unable to complete the checks due to insufficient documentation to verify.
• They had not received two satisfactory references.
• As part of the DBS check, they had not received a certificate of good conduct and full police checks from Mr McMillan.

ET findings

The ET found no credible evidence that Mr McMillan’s treatment by the trust was influenced in any way by his wife’s or children’s Vietnamese ethnicity.

The ET stressed that for a claim under s13 to succeed, Mr McMillan must prove that he was treated less favourably than a comparable person in materially similar circumstances and that this less favourable treatment was because of a protected characteristic, in this case race, linked to his association with others. Mr McMillan was unable to satisfy this burden of proof.

Regarding the claims for wrongful dismissal and breach of contract, the ET found that the trust had acted within its contractual rights and no evidence supported a breach. All claims were dismissed.

Deposit order and costs

Mr McMillan had been ordered to pay a £500 deposit earlier in proceedings, indicating the ET viewed aspects of his claim as having little reasonable prospect of success. After the hearing, this deposit was awarded to the trust with interest. No additional costs were awarded.

Implications for employers and employees

This case demonstrates that direct discrimination by association, though recognised in UK law, requires clear and persuasive evidence. While the Equality Act 2010 provides strong protections, the burden is on the claimant to show a causal link between the alleged less favourable treatment and the protected characteristic of someone with whom they are associated.

For employers, the case reinforces the need to handle all withdrawals of job offers with procedural fairness and to document decision-making to defend against discrimination claims. For employees, it demonstrates the evidentiary threshold required to succeed in claims involving associative discrimination.

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