Mr M Iqbal v CBVC Vehicle Management Limited and 1 other — 2026

Mr Iqbal pursued claims of direct race discrimination and harassment related to race arising from a comment made by Mr Andrew Baker on 4 October 2021. During a conversation about whether a Scottish £20 note would be accepted locally, Mr Baker used the term “Paki shop”. The tribunal found that the comment was conversational, was not about or directed at Mr Iqbal, and was made without an intention to offend.

Mr Baker apologised directly to Mr Iqbal on the same day and emailed a general apology to staff the following day. Mr Iqbal did not complain about the comment until he raised a grievance and resigned on 7 June 2023, approximately 21 months later. The tribunal also found that Mr Iqbal and Mr Baker maintained a courteous and professional working relationship after the incident and that Mr Iqbal had no sickness absence related to it.

The tribunal did not find persuasive the medical report commissioned for the litigation, which was dated almost four years after the incident and relied on Mr Iqbal’s self-report. It found a disjuncture between what he reportedly told the clinician, his evidence, and the contemporaneous facts, and did not find him to be a credible witness. It concluded that the one-off comment did not amount to less favourable treatment of Mr Iqbal and therefore dismissed the direct race discrimination claim.

Applying section 26 of the Equality Act 2010 and the subjective and objective elements of the harassment test, the tribunal found that Mr Iqbal had not shown that the comment violated his dignity or created an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. The harassment claim was dismissed. No monetary remedy was awarded.