Gender Effects in British Unfair Dismissal Tribunal Hearings

Using data on unfair dismissals from the 1992 Survey of Industrial Tribunal Applications, the authors investigate appellant success at British industrial tribunal hearings. They find evidence that, as in North American grievance arbitration, predominantly male tribunal panels were more likely to sustain cases brought by female applicants than those brought by male applicants. No role for other gross observable characteristics such as age or ethnicity is found; tribunals instead appear to have placed strong emphasis on issues of procedure, as required by law. No “gender effect†is apparent in the determination of compensation in sustained cases.