We assess cases to establish if there was maladministration, resulting in injustice or negative impact on the complainant. Maladministration can cover situations where people have been treated unfairly. This is not restricted to discrimination as defined in equalities legislation.
If you complain that you have been treated differently, organisations should be able to explain what they do to make sure people are treated fairly and how they have done so in your case. In some cases, they may decide to check you have been treated in a similar way to other people in similar situations but they will not be able to provide you with details about how other people have been treated because that is information that is personal to them. Organisations should be fair but that does not mean they need to treat everyone the same. If they have good reasons for treating people or situations differently, they are still acting fairly.
If you complain to us you have been treated unfairly and we decide to investigate, we will be able to consider how they have treated you and, in some case, will ask about how others were treated to make sure you were treated fairly. However, we also, will not provide you with details that are personal to other people.