A common law action for discrimination

Abstract

May a worker bring a common law action against an employer who refuses him employment on racial grounds? The established view is that the answer is an emphatic ‘no’. The clearest enunciation of this view has been made by Hepple who explains the alleged absence of a common law remedy for discrimination in employment on both ‘doctrinal’ and ‘practical’ grounds. This article examines these doctrinal and practical underpinnings of the established view and suggests that they may not be as secure as is commonly believed. It is suggested that, while the weight of academic opinion denies the availability of a common law action based on a tort of discrimination, there may be theoretical and empirical grounds for the alternative view that, in appropriate circumstances, a plaintiff might successfully raise in an English court a common law action for racial discrimination in hiring. This is of particular importance in view of the weaknesses of the statutory remedies documented by Lustgarten.