Alexander v Home Office [1988] 1 WLR 968
AGGRAVATED DAMAGES – QUANTIFICATION OF DAMAGES
Facts
The claimant was a prisoner who had been racially discriminated against in his initial assessment by the prison officer and in various applications for work within the prison. He brought an action alleging unlawful direct discrimination, contrary to the Race Relations Act 1976.
At first instance, the judge found that the claimant had been treated based on a racial stereotype and not as an individual in his assessment and that the rejection of his applications for various roles within the prison had been rejected due to his colour. Damages were awarded for the difference between the rate of pay in the job the claimant had worked and those which he had applied for. In addition to £50 ‘special damages’ to compensate the injury to his feelings; in determining this sum, the judge took into account that the claimant was partially responsible for his position due to his failure to co-operate with the prison authorities, and that any injury to his feelings must be largely amended by having been vindicated by the finding of racial discrimination. The claimant appealed against the quantum of the award of damages.
Issues
The issue was whether the judge was correct in his assessment of the quantum of damages, particularly whether he was right to reduce the damages on account of the claimant having been vindicated by the finding of racial discrimination.
Decision/Outcome
The court held that as the object of damages for discrimination is restitution, and damages for hurt feelings should be restrained accordingly; however, they need not be ‘minimal’. Further, they should not be reduced on the basis that the claimant had been vindicated by a finding of racial discrimination. The appeal was therefore allowed.
Updated 19 March 2026
This case summary remains broadly accurate as a statement of the law as it stood in 1988. However, readers should note that the Race Relations Act 1976, under which this claim was brought, has since been repealed and consolidated into the Equality Act 2010. The principles established in Alexander v Home Office regarding the award of damages for injury to feelings in discrimination cases — including that such damages should be meaningful rather than minimal, and should not be reduced merely because the claimant has been vindicated by a finding of discrimination — remain good law and continue to be applied under the 2010 Act. The case is also still frequently cited in the context of aggravated damages in discrimination claims. For current guidance on the quantification of injury to feelings awards, readers should also be aware of the Vento v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police [2002] EWCA Civ 1871 guidelines, which established the well-known Vento bands, subsequently updated by the Employment Appeal Tribunal in De Blasio v Giuliani and periodically revised — most recently for claims presented on or after 6 April 2025 by Presidential Guidance issued by the Employment Tribunals.
