Mrs P Pantegi v BT Group plc — 2023

The tribunal upheld only the claim for accrued but untaken annual leave. Relying on the respondent’s own calculation, it found the claimant had seven days of accrued leave outstanding at termination, but had already been paid for three of those days in September 2020. It therefore awarded pay for the remaining four days, amounting to £306.40.

The direct age discrimination claim concerning Project Rouge was dismissed. The tribunal found that only one comparator, Vincent Cirino, was in materially similar circumstances, but it did not accept that being left on ticketing work rather than being included in Project Rouge was less favourable treatment. It also found that the claimant had not shown facts from which age discrimination could be inferred.

The disability discrimination claims were also dismissed. Although the tribunal accepted that the 13 July 2020 performance conversation was unfavourable treatment and that the respondent knew of the claimant’s hearing impairment, it found that the conversation was not because of the identified consequences of disability relied on in the claim. On reasonable adjustments, the tribunal found the relevant meeting-related PCP placed the claimant at a substantial disadvantage, but concluded the respondent had taken the reasonable steps relied on by reminding participants to speak clearly and project their voices.

The constructive unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal and redundancy claims all failed. The tribunal considered each alleged breach of trust and confidence, and also their cumulative effect, but found no fundamental breach of contract. It concluded that the claimant resigned before the implications of Project Rouge and any alternative roles had been fully explored, so she was neither constructively dismissed nor dismissed by reason of redundancy, and was not entitled to notice pay or a redundancy payment.