Vento band compensation

[tesla6518]

Rob I am somewhat confused how to complete a claim form. I am doing this on behalf of some friends. It is a claim of direct discrimination contrary to The Equalities Act 2010.

I wish the injury to feelings award to be assessed by the judge using Vento Band 1. How would I word this in the claim form to minimise the application fee? as the lower value is £1100 and max is £11,200
@ Rob

[des8]

Rob is actually R0b

[tesla6518]

Vento band compensation

Yesterday, 17:05:PM
I am somewhat confused how to complete a claim form. I am doing this on behalf of some friends. It is a claim of direct discrimination contrary to The Equalities Act 2010.

I wish the injury to feelings award to be assessed by the judge using Vento Band 1. How would I word this in the claim form to minimise the application fee? as the lower value is £1100 and max is £11,200

I originally posted to rob but made a mistake, so he and hope anyone else can help.

I also have a theory: this is a Direct Discrimination: sexual orientation against an incorporated members club. I am aware that the club itself is a seperate legal identity. But believe it is unable to make a decision in a discrimination case, as this would be illegal. However I believe that the Company secretary can be held personally liable under the law of Agency,. Has anyone any thoughts or am I just plucking straws out of the air?

[R0b]

I wish the injury to feelings award to be assessed by the judge using Vento Band 1. How would I word this in the claim form to minimise the application fee? as the lower value is £1100 and max is £11,200

I assume you are trying to use the Money Claims Online service in which case you have to state an exact figure you are seeking damages for. The best way to assess the kind of damages you might be entitled to is to research similar cases to yours and what see has been awarded and use that as an amount to claim but it will be the maximum amount you can recover.

Also note that if you are trying to keep this within the small claims track to avoid legal costs if you lose, then the maximum sum you can claim is £10,000. However, allocation to the small claims track is not automatic. The court will take into account a number of factors including the sum being claimed, the complexity of the claim etc. Any discrimination type claim under the EqA 2010 is not what I would consider to be a simple and straightforward and it's possible that even if the sums claimed were only £5,000, the court could still allocate the claim to the fast track where legal costs are in play because of the complexity of the claim which are not always clear cut.

I also have a theory: this is a Direct Discrimination: sexual orientation against an incorporated members club. I am aware that the club itself is a seperate legal identity. But believe it is unable to make a decision in a discrimination case, as this would be illegal. However I believe that the Company secretary can be held personally liable under the law of Agency,. Has anyone any thoughts or am I just plucking straws out of the air?

I don't believe there is any restriction on claiming against an individual for discrimination, it's just that most people sue employers because they are likely to have the means to pay rather than the individuals themselves. However, I think you are barking up the wrong tree around agency law I can't see how it applies here. Agents act on behalf of other people or organisations and their actions are the actions of those individuals/organisations unless you can show that the principal (being the individual or organisation) did not authority to that agent in which case the agent is liable. Given that we are talking about discrimination, the straightforward option would be adding the individual as a second defendant to the claim.

Your friends would be very wise to seek some independent legal advice before embarking down this route and to get an idea of the prospects of the claim and the potential compensation that could be claimed. If they have all been affected by the same discriminatory actions, they could club together and pay for advice to be given to them all rather than individually - if the claim is worthy enough for a law firm they may even take it on a no-win no-fee basis.

[tesla6518]

Hi Rob thank you for your input, they are not going the MCOL route and fully expect once submitted that the case will be probably changed to fast track.

They merely wished for advice on how to word the claim form i.e "the claimants wish the award assessed on the Vento lower band" or something similar.

This is not against an employer, it is against a members club who having been a member for 25yrs had membership refused, never had any problem, never bought the club into disrepute, massive financial contributor, upstanding business man, only difference 2 new directors.

[R0b]

If I recall based on your previous posts, the members club was reformed into a limited company right? In this case most directors of the company are usually employees of the company if the company enters into a service contract with the director, so I am making that assumption unless you confirm the director is not an employee. Nevertheless, the point still stands whether I refer to them as an employer or not, you can still sue individuals for discrimination as it is not exclusive to employers.

The particulars of claim should be a statement of fact only and not contain legal arguments, opinions or otherwise. You do not need to at this stage need to mention the Vento banding because that's what you argue at the hearing when it comes to assessing damages. You simply list out the losses suffered or incurred as a result of the discrimination and some form of reasoning behind the loss suffered.

If you must mention it, then you don't need to be specific about the wording as long as its clear. Something like the claimant seeks compensation in the sum of XXXX in accordance with the lower Vento band (for less serious cases) as laid out in Vento v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police [2002] EWCA Civ 1871

[tesla6518]

Thanks Rob, I will have to get back about the directors as I was led to believe that they are not employee's.

[tesla6518]

Hi again Rob, no the directors are not employed by the club and all are unpaid.

As you are a VIP member could you advise what would be a reasonable donation (as requested) if i submitted the claim form for inspection as per website

[tesla6518]

As no reply was received, I proceeded and worded the damages to be "assessed by the Court" The claim named the club, as a limited company and 12 individuals (committee members) as defendants. The claim fee was £322. Of course we expect the claim to be moved from fast track and further costs to be involved,

[R0b]

Sorry I did not see your post, as I no longer get notified of updates to threads so I have no way of being able to check for updates without trawling through each of the threads I have posted on.

All I can say is good luck, but your luck may not get very far because the immediate problem you may face is the fee because it is not the correct amount. The £322 fee (which the correct fee is actually £332 so I assume your figure was an error when posting) relates to a fee for claims other than money or or possessions, the common kind of claim that would attract this fee is an injunction.

Just to make you aware, if the club or any of the 12 individuals get any decent legal advice or representation, then they would almost instantly know that the fee is not correct for an unspecified damages claim (the fee for an unspecified claim is £10k) and seek to strike out the claim entirely as an abuse of process, which the courts have historically accepted. The claim will be dead in the water before it even gets off the ground and a costs order will follow against your friends.

[tesla6518]

Rob I am confused, as the claim was put in front of a judge before the claim fee was agreed upon. It was the judge that stipulated the Fee.

[R0b]

Well in that case, I am of the view that the judge has got it wrong. The club would be entitled to raise an objection to the incorrect fee being paid as a defence point unless they were also present at the time the judge made that decision and no objection was made, at which point you could argue they are not entitled to raise the issue of the fee amount at a later date because they had the opportunity to object when the judge made that call in front of them.

The full list of fees can be found in the EX50A document (link here). You will see on page 3 in the table under 1.1(i) “Money Claims: Issue Fee” table that for a claim value that is unlimited, the fee is £10,000. The phrase you used “damages to be assessed by the court” is generally taken to mean that there is no limit on the amount of compensation and therefore attracts the £10,000 fee.

Unfortunately, there is not much more I can suggest or say other than to wait it out and see what happens when the defence comes in.

[tesla6518]

More than grateful for information Rob, as you say wait and see. I know it could be an imponderable, but do I have any recourse as it was the judge's decision. if it were found that the judge had made an incorrect decision my friends would be willing to pay the £10,000