När skämt blir till kränkning - bedömningen av etniska trakasserier i arbetslivet
(2014) LAGF03 20142Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract
- In recent years, most reports regarding discrimination received by the Equality Ombudsman concern ethnic discrimination at work. Nevertheless, there are only two cases in which discrimination have been established by the Labour Court since 1994; one case regarding indirect ethnic discrimination and the other concerning ethnic harassment. A significant amount of criticism has been directed towards Sweden from the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance and the United Nations´ Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. This paper aims to investigate possible reasons for the limited number of cases in which discrimination was established and to find achievable solutions to the addressed problem with focus on ethnic... (More)
- In recent years, most reports regarding discrimination received by the Equality Ombudsman concern ethnic discrimination at work. Nevertheless, there are only two cases in which discrimination have been established by the Labour Court since 1994; one case regarding indirect ethnic discrimination and the other concerning ethnic harassment. A significant amount of criticism has been directed towards Sweden from the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance and the United Nations´ Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. This paper aims to investigate possible reasons for the limited number of cases in which discrimination was established and to find achievable solutions to the addressed problem with focus on ethnic harassment. One reason for the low number of cases in which discrimination was established, may be due to the fact that the Labour Court seem to demand more evidence from the plaintiff to fulfil the burden of evidence than the law prescribes, which may be against European Union law. One way to ensure a uniform and correct application of the law is to allow the Supreme Court to reconsider discrimination cases. Another possible cause to the addressed problem could be the Labour Court's strict interpretation of the legislative history to the Anti Discrimination Act, which is possible for the court to change. Anyhow, the need for new legislation may be acknowledged. On the basis of the results of this study generated by discourse analysis and postcolonial theory, there are reasons to change the necessary condition regarding the knowledge of the person that is claimed to have been harassing the plaintiff. The new necessary prerequisite could instead be ”should have understood”. Furthermore, it follows from postcolonial theory that knowledge about every-day racism could be taken into consideration in the judicial decision. Finally, it is suggested that the plaintiff are given the opportunity to judge what kind of behaviour that equals an infringement. In conclusion, it could be stated that changes in legislation or adjudication need to be made to make sure that Sweden has an opportunity to fulfil the demands set by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance and the United Nations´ Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- De flesta av anmälningarna till diskrimineringsombudsmannen rör etnisk diskriminering i arbetslivet. Trots detta har enbart ett fall av indirekt etnisk diskriminering och ett fall av etniska trakasserier konstaterats av de trettiotal mål rörande etnisk diskriminering som Arbetsdomstolen prövat sedan 1994. Allvarlig kritik har riktats till Sverige från Europarådets kommission mot rasism och intolerans och FN:s kommitté för avskaffande av rasdiskriminering. Detta arbete syftar för det första till att undersöka möjliga orsaker till det låga antalet konstaterade fall av diskriminering, med fokus på trakasserier på grund av etnisk tillhörighet. Undersökningen syftar för det andra till, utifrån de tänkbara orsakerna, analysera och ge förslag på... (More)
- De flesta av anmälningarna till diskrimineringsombudsmannen rör etnisk diskriminering i arbetslivet. Trots detta har enbart ett fall av indirekt etnisk diskriminering och ett fall av etniska trakasserier konstaterats av de trettiotal mål rörande etnisk diskriminering som Arbetsdomstolen prövat sedan 1994. Allvarlig kritik har riktats till Sverige från Europarådets kommission mot rasism och intolerans och FN:s kommitté för avskaffande av rasdiskriminering. Detta arbete syftar för det första till att undersöka möjliga orsaker till det låga antalet konstaterade fall av diskriminering, med fokus på trakasserier på grund av etnisk tillhörighet. Undersökningen syftar för det andra till, utifrån de tänkbara orsakerna, analysera och ge förslag på hur Sverige kan rätta sig efter kritiken genom att ge utsatta för diskriminering ökade möjligheter till upprättelse och kompensation genom den juridiska processen. Utifrån vad som framkommit i undersökningen utgörs en möjlig orsak till det låga antalet konstaterade diskrimineringsfall av att Arbetsdomstolen verkar tillämpa ett högre beviskrav än vad som föreskrivs enligt diskrimineringslagen. Ett sätt att säkerställa en enhetlig och korrekt tillämpning av bevisregeln inom rättsväsendet kan därför vara att öppna upp för förlorande part att överklaga till Högsta domstolen. En annan orsak till det låga antalet konstaterade fall är att Arbetsdomstolen ofta gör en mer restriktiv bedömning av vad som utgör diskriminering än vad som verkar krävas enligt förarbeten, vilket är möjligt för domstolen att ändra. Behovet av en förändrad lagstiftning kan dessvärre inte uteslutas. Utifrån diskursanalys och postkolonial teori som tillämpas i uppsatsen, kan en ändring av insikts-rekvisitet till ”borde ha insett” förordas. Det kan även utifrån postkolonial teori anses motiverat att kunskap om hur vardagsrasismen fungerar i större grad vägs in i den juridiska bedömningen och att den utsatte ges möjligheten att själv bedöma vad som utgör en kränkning. Slutligen kan konstateras att förändringar i lagstiftning eller praxis verkar behövas om Sverige ska ha en möjlighet att tillgodose Europarådets kommission mot rasism och intolerans och FN:s kommittés krav på förbättrade möjligheter för enskilda att få upprättelse genom den juridiska processen. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/4925011
- author
- Ranerup, Therese LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- LAGF03 20142
- year
- 2014
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- arbetsrätt, labour law
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 4925011
- date added to LUP
- 2015-01-28 16:09:06
- date last changed
- 2015-01-28 16:09:06
@misc{4925011,
abstract = {{In recent years, most reports regarding discrimination received by the Equality Ombudsman concern ethnic discrimination at work. Nevertheless, there are only two cases in which discrimination have been established by the Labour Court since 1994; one case regarding indirect ethnic discrimination and the other concerning ethnic harassment. A significant amount of criticism has been directed towards Sweden from the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance and the United Nations´ Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. This paper aims to investigate possible reasons for the limited number of cases in which discrimination was established and to find achievable solutions to the addressed problem with focus on ethnic harassment. One reason for the low number of cases in which discrimination was established, may be due to the fact that the Labour Court seem to demand more evidence from the plaintiff to fulfil the burden of evidence than the law prescribes, which may be against European Union law. One way to ensure a uniform and correct application of the law is to allow the Supreme Court to reconsider discrimination cases. Another possible cause to the addressed problem could be the Labour Court's strict interpretation of the legislative history to the Anti Discrimination Act, which is possible for the court to change. Anyhow, the need for new legislation may be acknowledged. On the basis of the results of this study generated by discourse analysis and postcolonial theory, there are reasons to change the necessary condition regarding the knowledge of the person that is claimed to have been harassing the plaintiff. The new necessary prerequisite could instead be ”should have understood”. Furthermore, it follows from postcolonial theory that knowledge about every-day racism could be taken into consideration in the judicial decision. Finally, it is suggested that the plaintiff are given the opportunity to judge what kind of behaviour that equals an infringement. In conclusion, it could be stated that changes in legislation or adjudication need to be made to make sure that Sweden has an opportunity to fulfil the demands set by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance and the United Nations´ Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.}},
author = {{Ranerup, Therese}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{När skämt blir till kränkning - bedömningen av etniska trakasserier i arbetslivet}},
year = {{2014}},
}