Mr A Lewis v North Northamptonshire Council — 2025

Mr Lewis worked as a gas engineer for the respondent via an umbrella company. His assignment ended on 21 December 2023 after Mr Bowley, his supervisor, terminated it following events at a council property. Mr Lewis then issued an MCOL claim against Mr Bowley, and the respondent instructed its in-house legal team to defend Mr Bowley on the basis that it considered itself vicariously liable. The tribunal held that the earlier MCOL settlement did not bar the tribunal proceedings and that the post-termination discrimination complaint arose out of and was closely connected to the prior relationship for the purposes of s.108 Equality Act 2010.

The only live merits complaint was direct race discrimination. Mr Lewis said the respondent treated him less favourably by supporting Mr Bowley, who is white, while not giving him the same legal support or funding an independent barrister. The tribunal held that Mr Bowley was not a suitable comparator because he was the claimant's supervisor and the defendant in the MCOL claim, whereas the claimant was the person who brought the claim. It said the appropriate comparator would have been a hypothetical white gas engineer in materially the same position as the claimant.

The tribunal found the respondent's reason for stepping in was that it considered itself vicariously liable for Mr Bowley's conduct and was defending a claim against the council, and that there was a conflict of interest in acting for the claimant. It therefore concluded that the refusal to provide the claimant with legal support was not because of race and did not contravene s.13 Equality Act 2010. The unfair dismissal and breach of contract complaints were withdrawn at the start of the hearing and dismissed upon withdrawal, and the remedy hearing listed for 10 December 2025 was vacated.