Miss Roslyn Palmer v London Grace Limited — 2020

Miss Palmer, who described herself as black British, brought a claim of direct race discrimination under s.13 Equality Act 2010 arising out of her appointment as assistant manager at the Respondent's Canary Wharf store and the subsequent decision to remove her from that role. She said the way she was treated reflected unconscious bias and stereotypical assumptions; the Respondent said its decisions were based on objective assessment of her performance and on business restructuring, not race.

The Tribunal accepted that the treatment was unfair and that, for a period, Ms Palmer was given little guidance or feedback. It found that she was not told of early criticisms, was not told about the developing management changes, and was left in limbo before being told in mid-January 2019 that her assistant manager role was at an end and that she would have to consider a lower post or become a nail technician. The Tribunal also accepted that she had successfully managed the store on two occasions and that contemporaneous emails described her as hard-working and 'drama free'.

However, the Tribunal held that the Respondent had rebutted any inference of race discrimination. It accepted that the management team genuinely formed the view that Ms Palmer was not currently suitable for a substantive management post, that this view was informed by early feedback and contemporaneous reports, and that the later changes at Canary Wharf explained why she was not included in the new management structure. The Tribunal concluded that she had been overlooked in the restructuring and that the poor process was not shown to be because of race. The claim was unanimously dismissed, and the Tribunal noted that the Respondent's costs warning and counter-schedule were misplaced.