A prominent KC said that the prejudices in the legal profession have led to the protection of regional accents, social deprivation and other characteristics.
Mary Prior KC told the podcast Doesn’t Sound Right this week she was ridiculed for her accent from the moment she began practising law in the early 90s. She was raised in Stoke-on-Trent.
She added that prejudices continue more than thirty years after the incident. To overcome the constant banter, she changed her accent to “be accepted”.
Prior says the bias is so extreme, she has spoken to graduates and law students who were told that they could not be successful in their careers unless they dropped their regional accents and took elocution classes. She said that barristers shouldn’t feel they have to use “received pronouncement”.
She said that the legal profession should reflect all of its diversity and include women, people with ethnic minorities, as well as those with disabilities or neurodiversity. Prior stated that “we have to include those with accents and those from a “underprivileged backgrounds”. Prior said that “social deprivation” should be protected as a characteristic.
Nottingham Trent University’s research has revealed that some accents are viewed negatively. Natalie Braber is a professor of linguistics and a linguist at Nottingham Trent University. She said that accents should be protected because it would acknowledge the fact that some people are at a disadvantage due to the way they talk.
Kate Palmer, director of employment services at Peninsula, confirmed that there is currently no legal basis for bringing a claim against accent discrimination. She added that some accents are related to race. Race is a protected characteristic in the Equality Act 2010. If an individual is treated unfairly on the basis their nationality, they can raise a race discrimination claim.
Employers shouldn’t make assumptions about someone’s abilities based on the accent they speak” – Kate Palmer. Peninsula
In the UK, we have a variety of regional accents. Some are related to race. For example, Scottish and Irish accents. A person with a Birmingham accent, for instance, could claim discrimination if they worked for a non English company. A person who is from Wales, Scotland, or Ireland and works in England can also claim accent discrimination, if they are treated poorly as a consequence.
It is likely that people have heard comments about their accents at some point and felt devalued because of them. Palmer said that this was not discrimination at work.
She stated: “Certainly, discrimination or unfair treatment can be claimed if someone is treated in a way that is detrimental to them due to an accent. For example, they are not hired for a position or overlooked for a promotion because of their accent. There is no legal basis for bringing a discrimination claim based on accent. It would therefore be difficult to do so. An employment tribunal found that an accent discrimination claim was invalid because there was no “country divide” between the parties involved.
Palmer said that it is not uncommon in the UK for people to associate an accent with intelligence and ability. This could lead employers to make employment decisions based upon unconscious bias.
She said: “Employers shouldn’t make assumptions about someone’s abilities based on an accent or other factors that aren’t related to experience, qualifications, skills, and knowledge.”
This week, law students Matthew Fedigan (left) and Denise van der Merwe (right) launched the podcast Doesn’t Sound Right. Walker Morris is a Leeds-based law firm that sponsored it.
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