Mr J Pimienta v Commissioner for Police of the Metropolis — 2024

Mr Pimienta was employed as a Metropolitan Police officer and it was agreed that he was disabled at all relevant times by a back injury and by anxiety and depression. The case concerned allegations arising over several years, including tasking at Charing Cross and Belgravia, an alleged incident involving Inspector McManus in December 2021, refusal of a larger tablet or laptop, and later victimisation after he said he would pursue an Employment Tribunal claim.

On the section 15 claim, the tribunal did not accept the claimant's account of the 6 December 2021 incident. It found that Inspector McManus did not shout at him, did not call him a liar, and did not threaten formal disciplinary action; the referral was to reflective practice, which the tribunal treated as an informal process. It also found that the claimant had not shown he was working from home on 11 November 2021 because of his back condition, and that there was no evidence Inspector McManus knew of his back condition.

On reasonable adjustments, the tribunal rejected the complaints about the bunker task at Charing Cross, the Belgravia instructions about uniforms and documents, and the motorcycle allegation. It held that the instructions were limited to work within the claimant's capacity and that any heavier or more extensive work would have been outside those instructions and contrary to the need for a dynamic risk assessment. It also rejected the auxiliary-aid complaint about a larger tablet or laptop: the medical evidence before July 2023 did not establish a need for such equipment, the DSE note that a laptop may be better was treated as an operational matter, and after a July 2023 report a laptop was provided within 15 days.

The victimisation claim also failed. The tribunal accepted that the claimant had done a protected act on 12 May 2022 by saying he would bring tribunal proceedings, but it did not find the alleged detriments proved. It did not accept that he had been told not to speak to PS Reid, and it found that PS Reid remained his line manager while Augustine Anyaegbuna acted as second line manager during the relevant period. No monetary award was made.