Mr Richard Walters v CT Plus (Yorkshire) Community Interest Company — 2020

Mr Richard Walters, a driver employed by CT Plus (CIC), brought claims arising from a February to April 2019 suspension and assessment process and from alleged payroll underpayments. The tribunal found that the suspension and the instruction to attend driving assessment were badly communicated and could understandably have caused confusion, but it also found that Mr Thomas did not know the claimant's race when he decided on the assessment and suspension. Applying the section 26 harassment test and the section 13 direct discrimination test, together with the Shamoon and Igen/Madarassy approach to causation and burden of proof, the tribunal held that the claimant had not proved that the treatment was because of race. The race-related harassment claim and the race discrimination claim were therefore dismissed.

On the wages claim, the tribunal accepted that the respondent's payroll system was complicated and that the claimant had experienced repeated underpayments. It held that the amended two-year limitation period meant deductions before 11 June 2017 were out of time, and that the period between 29 June 2018 and 25 January 2019 broke any series of deductions under Bear Scotland Ltd v Fulton. It therefore lacked jurisdiction over the earlier alleged deductions and treated the remaining complaint as confined to the in-time period beginning 25 January 2019.

For the in-time period, the tribunal found that the claimant had not been paid all sums due on the relevant dates, but that the respondent's later rectification payment in October 2019 had already addressed most of the historic shortfall. One outstanding docket top-up of 3.43 hours remained unpaid, and the tribunal rejected the 12 April 2019 allegation because the claimant had also been absent for part of the relevant duty. The tribunal ordered the respondent to pay £45.90 in respect of the remaining unlawful deduction from wages.