(1) Ms C McIntyre (2) Mr O Rahman v Ford Retail Limited T/A TrustFord — 2021

The tribunal heard joint claims by Ms McIntyre and Mr Rahman concerning the Respondent's relationship-at-work policy, the scrutiny of call logs, shift changes, pregnancy-related matters, grievance handling and the 2 December 2019 meeting. It found that the policy was not being properly implemented in the contact centre before April 2019 and that the later enforcement began after Ms McIntyre's March 2019 complaint about Lorraine Smith, Tia Smith and Joe Collins.

On Ms McIntyre's race discrimination claim, the tribunal accepted that Ms Smith singled her and Mr Rahman out for scrutiny of their calls and imposed a restriction on work-related contact, and it was critical of some later handling of the relationship-at-work policy and the 2 December 2019 meeting. However, it found those actions were prompted by Ms Smith's reaction to Ms McIntyre's grievance and protected disclosure, not by race. The tribunal rejected the other race allegations, including those concerning shift changes, Ms Smith's promotion, pregnancy-related treatment and the failure to discipline Ms Smith.

The tribunal found that Ms McIntyre had in fact been subjected to detriments on grounds of her protected disclosure in relation to the call-log scrutiny and the restrictions on contact during working hours. It nevertheless dismissed that complaint because it was out of time, held that it should have been presented by 27 September 2019, and found it was reasonably practicable for her to bring it in time. No monetary award was made.

Mr Rahman's race discrimination claim was also dismissed. The tribunal rejected his complaints about annual leave, grievance investigation, emergency leave counselling and the 2 December 2019 meeting, noting that although some aspects of the Respondent's handling were criticised as heavy-handed or perfunctory, race was not a factor in the treatment complained of.