Mr. Sanwar Ali v Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner — 2018

Mr. Sanwar Ali brought claims of direct and indirect race discrimination, racial harassment and victimisation against the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner. The tribunal heard the matter on 1 November 2018 and treated the claim as involving two periods: the earlier refusal and cancellation of the registrations of Workpermit and Visa Joy, and the later enforcement investigation and interview process from January 2017 onwards.

For the earlier period, the judge found that the respondent was acting as a qualifications body under section 53 Equality Act 2010. Because the refusal and cancellation decisions were appealable under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, and the claimant had been told in those appeals that he could raise race discrimination issues, section 120(7) removed Employment Tribunal jurisdiction over those complaints. The judge also said that, even if that conclusion were wrong, the earlier complaints would have been struck out as an abuse of process because they had not been brought forward in the appeal proceedings.

For the later period, the tribunal held that the respondent's investigation and enforcement activity was not the exercise of a qualifications body function for the purposes of section 53. On that basis, the Employment Tribunal again had no jurisdiction and the later complaints were also struck out. The judge added that, if jurisdiction had existed, the later complaints would probably have been out of time because the last proposed interview under caution mentioned in the reasons was 6 June 2017 and the claim was presented on 27 June 2018. The entire claim was struck out under Rule 37(1)(a), and no remedy was awarded.