To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many times his Department and its predecessors have been taken to an employment tribunal in each of the last five years; what the reason cited in each case was; and in how many cases the tribunal found in favour of the (a) the employee and (b) the Department. (290562)

The Department and its predecessors have defended 28 claims for the financial years 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09, some of which were for multiple reasons.

The reasons cited in the claims filed were:

Age discrimination

Breach of contract

Constructive dismissal

Disability discrimination

Equal pay

Gender

Race discrimination

Unfair dismissal

Unfair selection for redundancy.

Of the 28 claims:

Two claims are still outstanding

14 claims were withdrawn

Eight claims were found in favour of the Department

Four claims were upheld by the tribunal.

Information for 2005-06 and 2006-07 financial years could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Further details on the above cases are suppressed on grounds of confidentiality.