(1) Mr M Morrison (2) Mr W Headley v Bath Spa University Ltd — 2024

The claimants were black security officers at Bath Spa University who had raised concerns about racist incidents in the security team after the service was brought in-house in October 2020. The tribunal heard both claims together because each claimant resigned after alleging that the University had mishandled complaints about racism and had failed to deal properly with the workplace tensions that followed.

Mr Morrison's direct race discrimination and harassment complaints, including the handling of his 29 July 2021 grievance, the decision not to interview every witness, and the 26 August 2021 grievance outcome, were dismissed. The tribunal accepted that the grievance process was flawed in parts and that it did not fully address the N-word incident or some of the other concerns raised, but it did not find less favourable treatment because of race or conduct that was related to race for the purposes of sections 13 and 26 of the Equality Act 2010.

Mr Morrison's victimisation complaint was also dismissed. Although the tribunal held that Mr Williams asking him "Who is racist?" at the 11 August 2021 meeting was inept and could be detrimental, it found that the question was asked in a genuine attempt to deal with the concerns raised by black staff and was not because Mr Morrison had submitted his protected grievance.

Mr Headley's race discrimination, harassment and victimisation complaints about the weekend shift allocations in September to November 2021 and the handling of his October and December 2021 complaints were dismissed. The tribunal accepted that the November rota was applied under the new 4 on 4 off pattern and that there was no evidence it was allocated because of race. It also rejected the allegation that the 3 November 2021 HR email falsely said Mark Munro was responsible for the November rota.

The tribunal nevertheless found serious failings in the way the University dealt with the wider racial tensions in the department. It held that the grievance process and outcome did not properly address the N-word incident, the continuing concerns raised by black staff, or the promise made by Mr Williams to sit down with the black security officers. Those failings were likely to destroy or seriously damage trust and confidence and had no reasonable and proper cause, so both claimants were found to have been constructively dismissed and unfairly dismissed. A remedy hearing was listed for 27 June 2024, and this judgment did not determine compensation.