How to complain

If you believe you’ve been discriminated against, you should consider alternative ways before formal action is taken. Initially, you can make complaints directly to a person or organisation who has discriminated against you. Often an informal remedy (e.g., to get an apology) is helpful as any problem can be solved easily, without any stress and costs.

 

The polite resolution

If you believe you’ve been discriminated against, you should explore other, more subtle remedies such as simply saying to the person why you find it offensive, this may well result in an apology and the matter closed. If, however it carries on then it is an indication of maliciousness. At this stage, you need to escalate the matter to a formal complaint.

 

Make a complaint

If an informal approach fails then we recommend that you make a formal complaint in writing (if an organisation) or via a legal representative (if personal). The person/organisation is called the defendant to whom you want to take action. Questions you ask should be specific, like why you faced unfair treatment. While specific time is not required for sending your questions to the person/organisation. You should also save a copy of all correspondence.

 

If you plan to send questions by post, the most effective delivery method is recorded delivery which ensures your mail gets delivered to the recipient. You can also detail a specific time to respond to your questions within that time. Although they are not obliged to respond to you, this factor might be taken into consideration by the court when it makes a final decision about discrimination. If you are still waiting for the response of the person/organisation to your questions, always consider the time limit, if the time limit approaches and you’ve not been responded to then you should begin ADR at the earliest opportunity.

 

ADR - Alternative Dispute Resolution

If the first option (making a complaint) does not work for you, you can try arbitration and mediation methods, where an independent person tries to make an effective agreement for both sides. As mediation is legally unbinding, you can still go to the courts. However, you cannot take court action unless you have at least tried ADR, the court would certainly have expected you to try and resolve the matter before bringing it to them. We appreciate that ADR can be time-consuming (because the other party must consent to solve the problem through arbitration/mediation).

 

How we can help

If you commission us to act on your behalf we will try and contact the other side to make an effective agreement for both sides (this is known as Alternative dispute resolution), this would not be legally binding but would serve as a basis for moving forward it is also viewed with significant weight should the matter proceed to court. Of course, if the other party refuse, it this then you would have the choice of taking formal legal action, again this refusal to seek a solution would be explained to court staff.

 

We would be delighted to assist you should you go down this route, there will be court fees, and our fees to pay, To gain our assistance you need to open a case, this is done by taking advantage of our free consultation service, activated by the link at the top of the page, should you wish to start a case the caseworker will send you the suitable payment link.

 

At Lestons we have dedicated experts who are familiar with discrimination cases, your caseworker will appoint such a specialist to work with you. Please note your caseworker can only give generic advice, their role is to prepare your details for handling by our legal team and to act as your point of contact, they will also issue you with your Password and PIN, these will be needed to log onto your client dashboard. From your dashboard you will be able to manage and view every aspect of your case, upload documents, images, files etc.