Mrs A Batista de Souza Dunsire v Coty Services UK Limited — 2022

Mrs A Batista de Souza Dunsire brought a race discrimination claim against Coty Services UK Limited, relying on a series of alleged acts between September 2018 and January 2019 at Stansted Airport. The tribunal identified the pleaded allegations as concerns about the delayed start and temporary pass arrangements, comments made at induction, probation review notes, WhatsApp exchanges, alleged failure to support her, and the decision to terminate her employment during probation.

The tribunal accepted that there were management and communication problems, but found that these were not caused by race, language ability, or Brazilian nationality. It found that the delayed airport pass process had external causes and affected Hollie Sylvester too, that the comments about the French trainer's accent had nothing to do with the claimant, and that the probation review notes and team complaints reflected concerns about the claimant's tone, teamwork and interactions with colleagues and agency workers rather than any racial reason.

On the WhatsApp and shop-floor incidents, the tribunal found that the Secret Santa exchange, the messages about a two-year-old, the discussion about messaging hours, the disagreement with Jo Walker, and the nail-file exchange were not acts of race discrimination. It found that the claimant often reacted defensively or proportionately to criticism, that Ms Williams and Ms Farrow formed a genuine view that the claimant had not integrated into the team, and that the dismissal was for communication style and teamworking concerns. Applying the Equality Act provisions and the burden of proof authorities it cited, the tribunal held that race played no part in the treatment complained of and dismissed all claims.