Royal Mail Group v Efobi – burden of proof

Common sense prevails!  The Supreme Court has upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal in the case of Royal Mail Group v Efobi, holding that under the Equality Act 2010 the claimant must still provide facts from which (in the absence of any other explanation) an unlawful act of discrimination can be inferred before the burden of proving there has been no discrimination shifts to the respondent.  

Mr Efobi also argued that the tribunal should have drawn adverse inferences from the fact that Royal Mail did not call as witnesses those managers who had made decisions on his unsuccessful job applications.  In their judgment the Supreme Court emphasised that tribunals should be free to draw, or decline to draw, inferences in cases before them using their common sense and that how such matters should be assessed cannot be encapsulated in a set of legal rules.

To read the judgment click here.