Miss L Ponde Nkot v Les Crocodiles — 2019

The tribunal found that Miss L Ponde Nkot was engaged under a 'Consultants Agreement' and a 'Contract for teaching services' to teach French on Saturday mornings, and that she was a self-employed contractor who was required to provide the services personally. It accepted that she was responsible for her own tax and national insurance, was paid only for teaching, and was not entitled to sick pay or holiday pay. On that basis, the tribunal held that she was not an employee and therefore dismissed the breach of contract claim for lack of jurisdiction.

On the race discrimination claim, the tribunal found that Les Crocodiles was aware that the claimant was black before it offered her the role. It accepted the evidence of Mr Navet and Ms Balogh that on 15 September 2018 she was unprepared, had no materials and no lesson plan, and that concerns were then raised about her teaching and conduct after the classes observed on 22 September 2018. The tribunal found that the reasons given for terminating the contract on 27 September 2018 were that her skills were not at the required standard and that there were concerns about how she conducted herself towards Ms Balogh and the students.

Applying section 136 of the Equality Act 2010 and the burden of proof guidance in Igen Ltd v Wong, the tribunal held that there was no cogent evidence from which it could infer that race was the reason for the treatment complained of. It rejected the claimant's comparisons with Ms Balogh, a white teaching assistant, and the white teacher who had taught the class before her, finding that the circumstances were materially different and that the respondent would have treated a white teacher in the same way on the same facts. The race discrimination claim was therefore dismissed.