Mr T Joseph v Abellio East Anglia Limited — 2022

Mr T Joseph was dismissed after incidents on 4 and 6 May 2020 at Wivenhoe station, where he signed on before arriving at work and was found to have failed to follow the station's train dispatch procedure on 4 May 2020. The tribunal found that the Respondent treated the dispatch role as safety critical, that the Claimant had been trained and assessed on the procedure shortly before the incidents, and that Michael Barry dismissed him because he believed the Claimant had knowingly failed to dispatch in accordance with the recognised method.

On the unfair dismissal claim, the tribunal held that the reason for dismissal was conduct within s.98(2)(b) ERA 1996 and considered the process as a whole, including the investigation and appeal. It accepted that there were some shortcomings, including that an earlier interview with Mr Steward was not accompanied, but found that the Respondent had obtained the material evidence, that the Claimant had largely admitted the key facts, and that the decision to dismiss for the first breach of a critical safety procedure fell within the range of reasonable responses. The tribunal noted that dismissals for dispatch irregularities were treated case by case but commonly led to dismissal, and it found the Respondent could regard the Claimant's conduct as gross misconduct.

On the race discrimination claim, the tribunal applied the burden of proof approach under section 136 Equality Act 2010 and accepted that the Claimant had established facts from which discrimination could be inferred, including limited statistical material and his evidence about not feeling accepted at work. The burden therefore shifted to the Respondent. The tribunal then found, on the evidence of Michael Barry and Lee Smith, that the dismissal and appeal outcome were driven by the perceived seriousness of the dispatch breach and the safety concerns attached to it, and that the Respondent would have treated an employee of any race in the same way on the same facts.

Both claims were dismissed. The tribunal made no award of compensation or other remedy.