MR M Z HASSAN v Royal Mail Group Limited — 2019

The claimant was employed as a driver and was dismissed following incidents on 29 March 2017 involving an altercation on the platform and a later incident in the car park with another employee. The respondent accepted that the claimant was disabled with depression and anxiety; the claimant also relied on his Asian ethnic background and Muslim religion. The tribunal noted evidence of a racist/Islamophobic sticker and a Facebook entry attributed to an employee, but found insufficient evidence connecting those matters with the disciplinary decision or the witnesses involved.

The direct race, religion or belief, and disability discrimination claims were dismissed. Although the claimant was treated less favourably than the comparator employee because he was dismissed while the comparator received a final written warning, the tribunal found that the respondent's explanation was its view of the claimant's conduct, and that race, religion or belief, and disability were not operative causes of the treatment. The section 15 disability claim was also dismissed because the medical and other evidence did not establish that the claimant's conduct on 29 March 2017 arose in consequence of his disability.

The unfair dismissal claim succeeded. The tribunal accepted that the respondent had a genuine belief in misconduct, but found the investigation and procedure outside the range of reasonable responses. The respondent had not properly investigated the possible connection between the claimant's mental health disability and his conduct, the decision-maker had seen and relied on CCTV footage that was not shown to the claimant, the appeal did not correct that failing, and the respondent took an unreasonable approach to comparing the claimant's conduct with that of the other employee. The tribunal assessed contribution at 20%.