Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

EAT guidance on ET costs orders in discrimination claims: high threshold, LiPs, privileged advice, and the role of costs warnings/strike-out/deposit (Madu v Loughborough College)

Published on: 24 April 2025

Published by a LexisNexis Employment expert

Legal News

Article summary

What are the practical implications of this judgment?

In Madu, the EAT examined whether applications for costs in discrimination cases ought to be handled differently from those in other types of claim. HHJ James Taylor indicated that the reply is both no and, often, yes: the legal criterion for awarding costs is uniform across all complaints, yet many discrimination and analogous claims have characteristics that demand particular attention when applying that test, and policy considerations may specifically influence such cases.

This judgment reinforces that:

as a matter of public policy, the bar for obtaining a costs order under the ET Rules 2024, SI 2024/1155 is set high. The ET regime is intended to promote access to justice, including for employee claimants seeking remedies against employers
ETs should take account of the challenges faced by individuals—especially those without representation—when bringing and trying to prove discrimination claims, which are often complex and may require specialist legal understanding...

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