Mr Z Baran v Mario Iasi and Salvatore Iasi t/a Bel-Vedere Ristorante Italiano — 2020

The tribunal heard evidence from the claimant, his son, another witness and Mr Mario Iasi. It preferred the evidence of the claimant and his witnesses, and found that the claimant was told on 17 January 2018 that he had pancreatic cancer. By 31 January 2018, the tribunal found it beyond doubt that he had been told the pancreatic tumour was cancerous. It also found that the respondent knew of the disability, or at least perceived the claimant to be disabled, and that the claimant was summarily dismissed on 6 February 2018 when Mr Iasi told the claimant's son that he would be dismissed and his belongings and P45 needed to be collected.

The direct discrimination claim succeeded because the tribunal found the dismissal was because the claimant had cancer and was unable to return to work by 14 February 2018 or at all at that time. In the alternative, the tribunal said it would have found the respondent acted because it perceived the claimant to have cancer. The s15 EqA claim also succeeded: the claimant's absence from work from 14 January 2018 was treated as something arising from disability, and the tribunal found the respondent knew, or should reasonably have known, of the disability.

The reasonable adjustments claim was withdrawn at the start of the hearing because the appointments relied on predated the point at which the respondent knew of the cancer diagnosis. The automatically unfair dismissal claim under s104 ERA 1996 failed because the tribunal was not satisfied that repeated requests for wage slips had been made in 2017, and in any event it was not the reason for dismissal. The wrongful dismissal claim succeeded because the tribunal found the claimant was dismissed summarily on 6 February 2018 rather than resigning, so he was entitled to one week's notice pay.

The tribunal also found that the respondent had not provided a written statement of particulars of employment, had not provided payslips during employment, and had not provided written reasons for dismissal. It awarded four weeks' pay under s38 Employment Act 2002 for the written-statement failure, but no separate compensation for the payslip or written-reasons failures. It accepted the unlawful deduction from wages claim for 14 January 2018 to 6 February 2018, awarding £960, and it awarded a further £715.70 for SSP from 7 February 2018 to 12 April 2018 as part of the discrimination remedy.

For remedy, the tribunal awarded £10,000 for injury to feelings, £1,530 interest, and a 25% ACAS uplift of £3,408.92 on the discrimination and ERA awards other than the written-statement award. It found no further future loss after April 2018. The overall award was £18,764.62.