Case 2416809/2019 · Employment Tribunal
Mr S Wiswell v Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue and 1 other — 2021
- Case reference
- 2416809/2019
- Decision date
- 20 January 2021
- Jurisdiction
- England & Wales
- Judge
- Employment Judge Leach
- Venue
- Manchester
- Panel members
- Ms J K Williamson, Mr S T Anslow
Parties
3 namedClaimant
Mr S Wiswell
Key findings
Tribunal's reasoningThe claimant, a firefighter, resigned in August 2012 after his request for a career break or sabbatical had been refused. He later asked to withdraw his resignation. The second respondent considered that request, taking account of the claimant's exit interview, attendance, performance, behaviour and the organisational position of the service, and on 30 August 2012 recommended that the resignation should stand. The tribunal found the email of 30 August 2012 and the later report of 2 November 2012 accurately recorded the reasons for that decision. It found that references in the email to the claimant's "personal circumstances", "relationship" and "external influences" referred to the claimant's own explanations, his marriage, and his wish to pursue a Masters course and potentially another career, not to the race or religion of the claimant or his wife.
Claims and outcomes
3 findings recorded| Claim type | Issue or finding | Outcome | Protected characteristic | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race discrimination | The allegation included direct discrimination and discrimination by association, based on the claimant's wife being Pakistani and Muslim and on comments in the 30 August 2012 email and the 31 August 2012 meeting. The tribunal extended time under section 123(1)(b) EqA, but found there were no facts from which race discrimination could be inferred and held the claimant would have been treated the same way in any event. | Dismissed | Race | — |
| Religion or belief discrimination | The claimant relied on his conversion to Islam and said the refusal to allow withdrawal of resignation was because of his religion or belief. The tribunal found the religion of the claimant or his wife was not a reason for the decision and dismissed the claim. | Dismissed | Religion or belief | — |
| Victimisation | The protected act relied on was the claimant's earlier challenge to racist conduct by a firefighter colleague at Blackley Fire Station. The tribunal accepted the challenge occurred, but found the second respondent was unaware of it when he made the decision on 30 August 2012 and at the 31 August 2012 meeting, so the detriments were not because of a protected act. | Dismissed | — | — |
Legal tests applied
13 references- section 13 Equality Act 2010
- section 27 Equality Act 2010
- section 136 Equality Act 2010
- section 23 Equality Act 2010
- section 123 Equality Act 2010
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Official outcome judgment PDF
Gov.uk primary recordThe official judgment PDF on gov.uk contains the tribunal's outcome, reasoning, and any remedy details. Where this page does not yet show extracted outcomes for every claim, use the PDF as the authoritative source.
Published on gov.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
How we got this data
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