Miss Veleta Brown v LHR Airports Limited — 2024

The Claimant, employed by LHR Airports Limited as a Delivery Project Manager from 18 July 2022 until her resignation on 7 June 2023, brought claims of direct race discrimination and harassment related to race, together with a claim of constructive unfair/wrongful dismissal which she later withdrew. The discrimination and harassment claims concerned a private security search on 13 October 2022, the Respondent's response to her subsequent complaint, the alleged failure to register that complaint as a formal grievance, and the conduct and outcome of the grievance process (added by amendment).

The Tribunal accepted that the private search followed the airport's security process after the archway scanner triggered and Ms Monfries was unable to satisfy herself that there was no ongoing security concern following the public pat down and wand scan. It concluded that being subjected to a private search in that context did not amount to a detriment and that the Asian female comparator relied on was not in materially the same circumstances. The Tribunal found no evidence from which it could conclude that the treatment was because of the Claimant's race.

The Tribunal noted shortcomings in the search process, in the handling of the Claimant's complaint and in the grievance process, and acknowledged that the Claimant found the experience distressing and humiliating. It nevertheless concluded that the reason for the Respondent's treatment was a lack of care, attention to detail and focus on the part of the investigating managers rather than a discriminatory motivation, and no inference of discrimination could reasonably be drawn. All claims of direct race discrimination and harassment were unanimously dismissed; the constructive unfair/wrongful dismissal claim was dismissed on withdrawal.