Indicator history

In 2010, the Equality Ombudsman (DO) brought an action in court in 19 cases.

Furthermore,  DO reached 38 settlements compared with 36 settlements lin 2009.

DO won a case in the Labour Court ( AD ) and five cases in a public court. DO has thus been successful in six cases of the eleven that were settled in court.  The corresponding results for 2009 were three cases out of twelve. 

Examplary cases during 2010 are as follows:

A woman was refused the opportunity to rent an apartment because her husband was Roma. The Equality Ombudsman and the landlord reached an agreement whereby the woman received 40 000 SEK in compensation. The woman was at the showing of an apartment with a management company in Finspång and signed a contract the next day. Neighbours had threatened to move because there had been problems with Roma in the area, according to the landlord. The Equality Ombudsman (DO) investigated the case and determined that the woman was the victim of ethnic discrimination. The parties reached a settlement that rewarded the woman 40 000 SEK (4 486 Euros). [1]

A ruling from the Stockholm District Court 8 February 2010, stated that it was discrimination when the employment services of Älmhult decided to suspend a Muslim man from his economical benefits. The man refused to shake hands with a  female boss of the company during an interview for internship. The Equality Ombudsman sued the Employment Service for discrimination on the ground of religion. The Equality Ombudsman stated that “Sweden is a multicultural country and we have to be able to see that there are different ways to show each other respect other than shaking hands”.

The Stockholm District Court ruled that the Swedish Employment Office had to pay 60 000 SEK (6 729 Euros) in damages to the man.[2]

In July 2010, the Equality Ombudsman and a motel reached a settlement that awarded a woman 50 000 SEK (5 607 Euros). The woman was harassed during the job interview and was denied the job because she is married to a man from Iraq.[3]

The Equality Ombudsman, Årsredovisning 2010 (Annual Report, 2010), http://www.do.se/sv/Material/Arsredovisning-2010/ (accessed 2012-03-12). 

In 2011, the Equality Ombudsman (DO) brought an action in court in 8 cases.

Furthermore,  DO reached 49 settlements compared to 38 settlements lin 2010.

In 2011, there were 13  judgments  announced in cases that DO pursued in court, seven in the Labour Court and sex in a public court. Four of the judgements  from the ordinary court were final. In addition, six judgments become final in 2011. Of these, DO won in 3 cases and lost 3 cases. 
DO  won four cases of  seven in the Labour Court and five (of which ten became final) in court. DO has thus been successful in nine cases out of seventeen. In 2010, DO won six cases out of eleven, and in 2009  three cases of twelve.

Source:

• The Equality Ombudsman (Diskrimineringsombudsmannen, DO), Årsredovisning 2011, http://www.do.se/sv/Material/Arsredovisning-2011/ (Accessed 27.01.2013). 

Exemplary cases during 2011:

On 28 February 2012, the Equality Ombudsman reached a settlement with the National Employment Service that awarded a Muslim woman 60,000 SEK (7,064 euro) in damages. The National Employment Service referred a Muslim woman to a chef-training course that required the students to eat pork. The woman was not allowed to attend the course since the education provider could not make an exception in her case. The Equality Ombudsman determined that the National Employment Service disadvantaged the woman due to her religion.

Source: 

• The Equality Ombudsman (Diskrimineringsombudsmannen), case no, ANM 2010/1436, available at: www.do.se/sv/Om-DO/Stamningar-och-forlikningar/Arbetsformedlingen-ANM-20101436/ (Accessed 27.01.2013).