Miss M. Samuwi v Firstport Property Services N.14 Limited and 1 other — 2025

This was a reserved judgment on a preliminary issue: whether there was any legal basis for the Claimant's harassment claims (relating to racial comments in email correspondence by Ms. Popovici, a director of the Second Respondent) against the Second Respondent in the Employment Tribunal. The Claimant relied on s.110 Equality Act 2010, arguing the Second Respondent was an agent of the First Respondent; she accepted the First Respondent was her employer and did not pursue claims against the Second Respondent under ss.111 or 112 EqA.

Employment Judge Bowen heard evidence from Ms. Popovici and a brief statement from the Claimant. Applying common law agency principles (referencing Kemeh and Anderson), the Tribunal found there was no contractual or financial relationship between the First and Second Respondents, no express or implied control either way, and no evidence that Ms. Popovici or the Second Respondent was authorised to act on behalf of the First Respondent. Ms. Popovici was found to be acting for the leaseholders, not for the First Respondent. The Tribunal concluded neither Ms. Popovici nor the Second Respondent was an employee or agent of the First Respondent under ss.109 or 110 EqA.

Accordingly, the Tribunal had no jurisdiction under s.120 EqA to hear the harassment complaints against the Second Respondent, and those complaints were dismissed. The Tribunal made no findings on whether the underlying conduct amounted to harassment related to race under s.26 EqA. The direct race discrimination claims against the First Respondent are unaffected and will proceed via further case management.