Posted: Monday 15 February 2010
Britain’s Got Talent…Simon Cowell’s Got A Problem…
Whilst I have always been more of an X Factor kind of person, I noticed that the tables have been turned on Simon Cowell in his Britain's Got Talent judging capacity. He may soon be asked to perform in front of an Employment Tribunal consisting of 1 Judge, 2 lay members and no buzzers to curtail proceedings. Emma Amelia Pearl Czikai auditioned for the show in May 2009. Cowell and fellow judge Piers Morgan “buzzed” her out before she got to finish the first line. The other judge, Amanda Holden let her go as far as the chorus before ending her audition prematurely. Now Ms Czikai has raised a claim under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 with the Employment Tribunal. She claims Cowell’s show failed to take account of her disability. She has cervical spine neuritis which can lead to shoulder and head discomfort and she alleges this affects her ability to hear her own voice in loud surroundings such as on the audition stage. In addition she says the show can be regarded as an employer as they offer participants the chance of a short-term employment contract. No date has been set for this drama yet as the Judge has to hear back from Britain’s Got Talent, within 28 days, before deciding if it merits a full hearing. So in time honoured fashion we’ll need to wait for the result...
Whilst the claim may very well fail for a variety of reasons, it does again highlight the fact that employers need to be careful when rejecting candidates as no continuity of service is required to raise a discrimination claim. It also serves as a reminder that an individual does not require to be an employee to raise certain types of claims and that employers need to consider the issue of "reasonable adjustments" during the recruitment process as well as during the employment relationship itself.
