Mr B Can v Thursdays UK Limited Heard: In Sheffield — 2021

Mr B Can, a Turkish Muslim chef, brought claims arising from incidents in late 2019 and later welfare, grievance, training, dismissal and appeal decisions. He alleged direct and indirect discrimination on grounds of race and religion or belief, harassment and victimisation. The tribunal heard from the claimant's wife and the respondent's witnesses, and preferred the respondent's contemporaneous notes and documentation over the claimant's account where they conflicted.

The tribunal accepted that some workplace exchanges occurred, including Mr Bailey's bacon comment, conversation about Greece and Turkey, and Mr Oksai's discussion of the Ottoman wars, but it did not accept that these were anti-Turkish or anti-Muslim taunts. It rejected the allegations about comments on the claimant's wife and later abusive remarks, and it found the 10 December 2019 welfare meeting showed management support rather than discrimination. Allegations 1-11 were found to be out of time, there was no conduct extending over a period for limitation purposes, and the tribunal declined to extend time.

For the later complaints, the respondent required furloughed staff to complete short online training courses in English for legitimate aims, including personal resilience, mental health support, conflict management, health and safety and disability awareness. The claimant was repeatedly asked to complete the training and could have had support from his wife or management, but he did not complete it, and the tribunal found he deliberately refused a reasonable instruction. It held that the dismissal and appeal were not caused by any protected act, that race and religion played no part in the later decisions, and that the indirect discrimination complaint failed because the training requirement was proportionate. The tribunal also accepted unchallenged evidence that a white British colleague had been dismissed for failing to undertake mandatory training.