Mr J Singh v Manpower UK Ltd — 2021

The tribunal rejected the claimant’s factual account of the events on 5 and 11 November 2019 and preferred the respondent’s evidence where the accounts differed. It found the claimant was not a reliable witness because of significant inconsistencies in his evidence, particularly about the words allegedly used by Mr Lizon, whether others heard them, and the sequence of events on 11 November 2019.

On the race claims, the tribunal found that colleagues did not make the alleged racist comment in Mr Lizon’s presence, that Mr Lizon did not call the claimant "Paki" on 5 November or during the later telephone call, and that he did not ignore the claimant while greeting white or Polish colleagues. It also found the claimant had not shown less favourable treatment because of race. The tribunal concluded that the respondent ended the claimant’s assignment at Premier Farnell, but did not dismiss him in November 2019.

On the protected disclosure claim, the tribunal accepted that the 11 November 2019 email to Mark Cahill contained allegations capable of engaging categories in s.43B ERA 1996, but found the claimant did not make that disclosure in the reasonable belief that it was in the public interest. It found the email was sent only after the claimant had been told he could not return to the Premier Farnell site, and that the disclosure was made in reaction to that decision. The tribunal further held that, even if there had been a dismissal, the reason for ending the assignment was the claimant’s unreliability and conduct on 5 November 2019, not any protected disclosure.