Mr JW Lam v London Borough of Hackney — 2019

The tribunal found that Ms Hinvest made an inappropriate comment about the claimant in frustration, but it was a figurative expression and not a literal death threat. It accepted that the claimant was genuinely distressed by the comment, but found that no reasonable employee in his position could have regarded it as a literal threat to his life. The tribunal also found that Ms Hinvest did not realise at the time that the claimant’s later complaints were referring to her own remark, and that her conduct on 24 November 2016, although offensive and poorly handled, was not because of race or any protected act.

On the victimisation issues, the tribunal accepted that several grievances were protected acts, but found that the detriments alleged were not because of those acts. Mr Scorer had not followed the formal grievance procedure, but the tribunal found that he had considered the complaints, addressed them informally, and chose that course as a response to a breakdown in working relationships rather than because the claimant had raised discrimination complaints. The restructuring decision, move to another team, disciplinary process, suspension, dismissal and appeal outcome were all found to have been caused by the claimant’s conduct and not by protected acts.

On protected disclosure, the tribunal held that the claimant’s email to the Mayor and councillors conveyed information, but his belief that it tended to show a criminal offence or breach of legal obligation was not objectively reasonable, so it was not a protected disclosure. On unfair dismissal, the tribunal found that the respondent had reasonable grounds to believe the claimant had engaged in misconduct, after a fair investigation and disciplinary process. It accepted that his repeated discussions with colleagues about the alleged death threat, frequent visits to his former team, and contact with elected members during suspension were reasonably treated as misconduct, and that summary dismissal fell within the range of reasonable responses.