Mrs K Maron v Rainbow Day Nursery Golborne Limited — 2024

Mrs K Maron worked for Rainbow Day Nursery Golborne Limited as a Level 2 Nursery Practitioner from 3 March 2022 until her dismissal on 26 April 2023. She identified her race as Ukrainian nationality. The tribunal heard claims under section 104 Employment Rights Act 1996, section 103A Employment Rights Act 1996, section 13 Equality Act 2010 and section 26 Equality Act 2010, and found that the reason given for dismissal was a substantial breakdown of employee relationships.

The tribunal found that the claimant was hardworking and well meaning, but repeatedly raised unsolicited health and personal advice with colleagues, challenged room leaders, and continued to pursue issues after management asked her to stop. It also found that she sometimes missed jokes, irony and sarcasm in English, and that by the end of the employment relationship none of the room leaders were willing to work with her.

The section 104 unfair dismissal claim failed. The tribunal accepted that the claimant said in an email on 23 April 2023 that her wage rights had been infringed, but found that this was not the principal reason for dismissal. The respondent had already acted promptly when the pay issue was raised, arranged a discussion, and paid the sums due, which were just over £300, and the tribunal found the real reason for dismissal was the irretrievable breakdown in relationships.

The section 103A whistleblowing claim also failed. The tribunal assumed that the email sent around 24 April 2023 about holiday pay and hours worked was a protected disclosure, but found no evidence that the dismissal was because of that complaint. It found instead that the pay issue had been handled quickly and that the dismissal flowed from the wider breakdown with colleagues and managers.

The direct race discrimination and race harassment allegations all failed. The tribunal found that the claimant was not part of the management team, so she was not entitled to be included in room-leader planning; that the laptop remark was a joke used with other staff as well; that the WhatsApp dispute and later complaints reflected pre-existing tensions rather than Ukrainian nationality; and that the later comments by Laura Parker, including the goodbye remark, were sarcastic or prompted by the claimant's complaints rather than race. It also rejected the allegations that she was blamed for the WhatsApp exchange, that she was shouted at in February 2023, or that managers criticised her because she was Ukrainian. Because all claims failed, the tribunal did not need to decide time limits or remedy.