Mr Esase Awazou v Abellio London Limited — 2018

The claimant was employed as an auto electrician subject to a six month probation period. The tribunal accepted the respondent's evidence that qualified electricians working on public service vehicles were required to hold Level 3 NVQ or equivalent qualifications, and found that the claimant had held himself out as qualified although he did not hold a formal qualification.

On the public interest disclosure complaint, the tribunal found that the claimant had shown managers photographs of faults and objected to buses being sent out when he wanted to work on them, as part of his working practices and in the context of performance concerns. It did not accept that he raised a risk to public health and safety or dangerous fuel emissions, and found that the decision maker was not aware of any alleged protected disclosures. The tribunal found the reason for dismissal was the lack of qualifications required for the role.

On race discrimination, the tribunal found that the claimant and his named white comparator were in materially different circumstances: the comparator was in a different semi-skilled role, had asked to train as an auto electrician, was paid a lower semi-skilled rate, and was to be supervised. The tribunal found no evidence that race was the reason for the claimant's dismissal. On breach of contract, it found the agreed hourly rate was £16.14 while the claimant worked a 40 hour week and £17.18 once he moved to a shift pattern, and that he had been paid accordingly.