Claimant v Tesco Stores Ltd — 2018

The claimant was employed by Tesco Stores Limited as a temporary Customer Assistant - Nights at the Cradley Heath store. The respondent conceded that she had anxiety and depression amounting to a disability at all material times, but denied the claims. The Tribunal preferred the respondent's evidence on several disputed factual matters, including whether the claimant had been given a mobile number for reporting significant issues and whether the respondent saw the claimant's 30 August 2018 text message before dismissal.

On disability knowledge, the Tribunal found that the respondent did not have actual knowledge from the 30 August text because the message was not seen before dismissal, and was not fixed with constructive knowledge because there was no reason to monitor that phone. It also found that the claimant's later statement to Mr Walsh that she had a disability did not give the respondent knowledge of the nature, substantial effect, or long-term nature of an impairment, and that Mr Walsh had made inquiries of relevant managers.

The disability discrimination claims were dismissed. The Tribunal found that the respondent did apply a PCP requiring customer assistants to complete a certain amount of work in a particular time period, but did not accept that the claimant had shown a link between her disability and her work rate or that the PCP placed her at the alleged disadvantage. The section 15 and reasonable adjustment claims also failed on knowledge and related factual findings.

The race discrimination and harassment claims were dismissed because the Tribunal accepted the respondent's account of the conversation in which Netto and a stag trip in Poland were mentioned, rather than the claimant's pleaded version. The written particulars claim failed because no listed substantive claim succeeded, and the right-to-be-accompanied claim failed because the 27 September 2018 meeting was not found to be a disciplinary hearing within section 10 Employment Relations Act 1999.