Miss A Visan v 1) Drone Major Limited 2) Mr R Garbett 3) Software Major Limited — 2019

Miss A Visan worked for one of the Respondents from 19 September 2017 on a salary of £36,000. The tribunal noted that earlier complaints, including unfair dismissal, constructive unfair dismissal, holiday pay and notice pay, had already been dismissed or withdrawn at a preliminary hearing on 8 April 2019. The full merits hearing concerned the remaining complaints of dismissal-related sex and pregnancy discrimination and harassment related to race and/or sex.

On the harassment allegations, the tribunal accepted that Mr Garbett had called the Claimant 'a thieving Romanian gypsy' on 10 November 2017, that he suggested on 28 February 2018 that she might accompany Mr Grinsted to the Army and Navy Club, and that there was an alleged bar remark on 6 July 2018 about dismissing an employee. It found the November remark was made and taken as a joke in the context of the parties' relationship and the workplace culture, found the February suggestion was not shown to have genuine sexual overtones, and found the July account was second-hand and not linked to race or sex. The harassment complaints were therefore dismissed.

On the dismissal complaint, the tribunal held that the burden of proof shifted because the Claimant was pregnant by 8 June 2018, Mr Garbett said he would sack her if she were pregnant, and she was dismissed four days later by email without a stated reason. It rejected Mr Garbett's late oral evidence that he had asked whether she was pregnant and that she had said no, because that had not been put to the Claimant. Even so, the tribunal found the Respondents had proved on the balance of probabilities that the dismissal was because of the Claimant's conduct and behaviour, and not because of sex or pregnancy, so the discrimination complaints were dismissed.