Ms D Van Den Berg, Counsel For the v Respondent — 2025

The claimant, Dr Arun Chind, was engaged via an agency as a locum occupational health consultant by Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust from 8 August 2022. His assignment was terminated with effect from 3 February 2023, with one week's pay in lieu of notice. He brought claims of victimisation under the Equality Act 2010 and detriment for making a protected disclosure; the latter was withdrawn during the hearing, as was an allegation concerning a subject access request.

The respondent accepted that the claimant had done a protected act by emailing Ms Downham on 24 January 2023 alleging contravention of the public sector equality duty. The tribunal found that the decision by Dr Rowlands to terminate the claimant's assignment on 26 January 2023 was significantly influenced by the doing of that protected act, and that the act and the manner of doing it were effectively one and the same. The allegation of victimisation by termination was therefore well-founded and succeeded.

The tribunal dismissed the remaining victimisation allegations, finding that the claimant had not proved a causal link between the protected act and the alleged detriments concerning the failure to provide written reasons for termination, the one week's notice rather than two, and the handling of and delay in responding to the grievance. A remedies hearing was directed in respect of the upheld termination claim.