Mr D Rodrigues v Disposables and Catering Supplies Limited — 2021

Mr D Rodrigues worked as a driver for Disposables and Catering Supplies Limited from 24 September 2018 until 25 June 2019, when he was dismissed without notice after damage was discovered to the van he had driven on 21 June 2019. The tribunal found that he caused the damage, that he felt a jolt or shudder when he hit a bollard, and that he failed to report the damage when he returned the vehicle. It also found that the damage was not modest, noting a repair estimate of £1,485.

On the wrongful dismissal claim, the tribunal held that the claimant's failure to report the damage was gross misconduct. It accepted that the contract and vehicle policy required daily inspection and immediate reporting of accidents, and that the contractual documents allowed summary dismissal for serious damage to property, breach of rules, or failure to follow company procedures. On that basis, the respondent was entitled to dismiss without notice and the notice pay claim failed.

On the race discrimination claim, the claimant relied on nationality as the protected characteristic. The tribunal found no actual comparator of a different nationality in materially similar circumstances and, applying the burden of proof under s136 Equality Act 2010, found no facts from which it could infer discrimination. It held that a hypothetical British comparator who failed to report similar damage would also have been dismissed, and that the police being called when the claimant was upset and refusing to leave was not less favourable treatment because of race.

On the deduction claim, the tribunal accepted that the respondent was entitled under the contract and vehicle policy to make deductions from wages or salary for the insurance excess, and it treated the earlier withheld wages figure of £769.20 as falling within that authorisation. However, it found that the contractual wording did not expressly authorise deduction from accrued holiday pay on termination. Construing the ambiguity against the employer, the tribunal held that the deduction of £230.80 from holiday pay was an unlawful deduction from wages and ordered repayment of that sum.