Mr P Danaher v GXO Logistics UK Limited — 2025

The claimant was dismissed after an incident on 1 November 2023 in which the tribunal found he used abusive and derogatory language towards a colleague. The claimant argued that he was dismissed because he raised a health and safety issue about a colleague allegedly having a knife, but the tribunal found that the respondent had already begun investigating the abusive language and that the principal reason for dismissal was that language.

The wrongful dismissal claim failed because the tribunal found, on the balance of probabilities, that the claimant had used a homophobic slur and that this amounted to gross misconduct under the respondent's disciplinary and business ethics policies. On that basis, the claimant was not entitled to notice pay.

The direct age discrimination allegations were dismissed. The tribunal found that a question about the age difference between the claimant and his colleague was asked because the colleague had referred to age in his evidence, not because the claimant was over 25. It also found no evidence that route allocation, being allowed to leave early, or dismissal were because of age.

The victimisation claim was dismissed because the tribunal was not satisfied that asking why age was relevant was a protected act under the Equality Act 2010. In any event, it accepted that the dismissal decision was made because of the claimant's abusive language. The unauthorised deductions claim was also dismissed because the tribunal accepted the respondent's evidence that all sums owed had been paid.