The public sector equality duty remains relevant throughout an internal investigation, not merely at the point of policy formation. Where disability or race is in play, the adequacy of the process is itself frequently the issue.
A recurring error is for an organisation to conclude that it has found no evidence of wrongdoing by its own staff, and to treat that as an answer. Under section 136 of the Equality Act 2010 the burden shifts once there are facts from which a court could conclude that a contravention occurred, and the organisation must then show that the protected characteristic played no part whatever.
We help complainants frame the point properly, and set out what a defensible investigation would have looked like.