Miss. I Potts, In Person v Mr. A. Gibson, Solicitor — 2023

Miss Potts worked as a band 5 theatre nurse from 4 January 2021 on probation, in a hospital environment the tribunal accepted was under significant COVID pressure. The tribunal heard evidence from the claimant and eight witnesses, and preferred the evidence of the respondent's witnesses on the disputed events. It found the claimant's evidence inconsistent in places and said she tended to embellish aspects of her account.

The direct race discrimination and harassment claims were based on alleged remarks and treatment including 'hired help', 'black scooby doo' and 'baa baa black sheep', being left to clean alone, queueing for a COVID vaccination, and later grievance handling. The tribunal rejected the core factual allegations, found the cleaning issue unlikely in the COVID context because staff all cleaned, accepted that the vaccination arrangements were driven by timing and staffing rather than race, and held that the alleged comments were not made. It also rejected the allegation that the grievance outcome or Andrew Williams's response in February 2022 were race-related, and found the claimant's resignation on 1 April 2022 was not a constructive dismissal caused by discriminatory treatment.

On age discrimination, the tribunal found the two younger nurses recruited into urology/ENT were filling vacancies after the claimant had already moved, by consent, to general surgery, and were not replacements for her. It accepted Ms Reay's evidence that she would not have said the alleged 'late stage of her life trying to secure a pension pot' remark and rejected that allegation.

The victimisation claim failed despite the tribunal accepting that the claimant had made four protected acts, including the grievance of 11 March 2021, the statements made at the 13 July 2021 milestone review, the 31 July 2021 grievance, and the 16 February 2022 complaint. It found the move to general surgery was a supportive step, the invitation to investigation was a proper response to serious allegations, the first milestone and probation processes were handled under the Trust procedure, the suspension on 16 February 2022 was prompted by a series of behaviour concerns, and the referral to the Nursing and Midwifery Council on 5 May 2022 was made because Mrs Sarson considered it professionally appropriate in light of multiple concerns from different staff, not because the claimant had done protected acts.