In person For the v Ms Y Montaz, consultant — 2017

The claimant worked for Merton and Lambeth Citizens' Advice Bureau from 19 January 2004 to 15 August 2012 as a Specialist Service Manager. The tribunal dealt with ordinary unfair dismissal, whistleblowing, victimisation, and disability discrimination claims. It accepted that there was a genuine redundancy situation, but the respondent conceded ordinary unfair dismissal because it accepted the claimant should have been offered the Business Manager role; the tribunal made no Polkey or contributory fault reduction.

On the November 2011 grievance hearing, the tribunal accepted that the claimant complained that the chief executive had bullied and harassed him and linked that treatment to their past sexual relationship. It found that this amounted to a protected disclosure under the pre-25 June 2013 whistleblowing law and also a protected act for section 27 Equality Act purposes, and that it was made in good faith. Those claims nevertheless failed because the tribunal found that the reason for dismissal was redundancy and not the protected disclosure or protected act.

The tribunal found that by the date of dismissal the respondent knew or ought reasonably to have known that the claimant had a shoulder disability. It also found that the claimant's sickness absence and treatment were disability-related, but it did not find facts from which to infer that he was dismissed because of disability. The section 15 claim also failed: although the claimant relied on disability-related absence and treatment as something arising from disability, the tribunal held that the dismissal was not because of that factor.

The judgment left remedy to a later hearing and did not record any monetary award. The tribunal also recorded that it was not persuaded by the respondent's arguments about Polkey, poor performance, or alleged abuse of special leave when assessing compensation reduction, although those issues did not alter the liability outcome.