Mr C Spinelli v Cordant Cleaning Limited — 2019

The tribunal found that the claimant resigned on 11 March 2019 but was not constructively dismissed. It directed itself on the law of constructive dismissal and the implied term of mutual trust and confidence, and concluded that the respondent’s conduct, viewed cumulatively, did not amount to a fundamental breach. Although the respondent’s failure to respond to the claimant’s 9 August 2018 grievance was accepted to be a serious failing, the tribunal found that once Mr Storey became aware of the grievance the respondent made repeated attempts to understand and address it, and the claimant did not engage with those attempts.

The tribunal rejected the claimant’s allegations that the incidents relied on were acts of race discrimination or race-related harassment. In relation to the change to working hours, the June 2017 drug and alcohol test, the August 2018 return to work form, the alleged shouting incident, the October 2018 uniform issue, and the grievance handling, the tribunal accepted the respondent’s explanations as operational, procedural, or arising from shortcomings unrelated to race. It found comparators or other employees of different ethnic origins were treated similarly in relevant respects.

The tribunal recorded that Mr Sesay was the person accused of discrimination, but he did not give evidence because he was on long-term sickness absence. Even so, the tribunal considered the case reasonably well documented and concluded that the claimant had not proved facts from which race discrimination could be inferred. It further held that, if the burden of proof had shifted, the respondent had provided non-discriminatory explanations that the tribunal accepted.