In person For the v Mr P Chaudhry, Solicitor — 2023

The claimant was employed as a postman from 7 October 2019 to 7 October 2020 and resigned. The tribunal found one proven act of harassment related to disability: on 24 August 2020 Mr Robert Gould telephoned the claimant and asked what was preventing him from working and what activities he was doing at home while he was absent through sickness. The tribunal found Mr Gould had the claimant's fit note showing 'stress at work', knew he was absent because of mental health issues, and that the questions implied distrust and had the effect required by s.26 Equality Act 2010.

All other complaints were dismissed. The race complaint about Mr Alan Wiggs saying he could not understand the claimant failed because the tribunal found the problem was the claimant speaking rapidly and Mr Wiggs having difficulty processing speech after a stroke, not race. The sex discrimination complaint about continued removal from driving duties also failed: the tribunal accepted Ms Gough's explanation that the claimant was a 'trialist' with under one year's service and that driver re-training was effectively on hold during the Covid restrictions, so the decision was not because of sex.

The disability-based complaints about the 22 July 2020 toilet incident were rejected. The tribunal found the claimant was refused use of the van because he was still suspended from driving, not because of his bowel condition, and that Mr Gould did not know of the bladder condition at the time. It also found Ms Gough's remark, 'I thought you had a bag', was a mistaken and innocent comment about the colostomy bag, not harassment.

The complaints about being told not to work on 23 and 24 July 2020, and about the 27 July 2020 meeting, were also dismissed. The tribunal found those directions were connected to the events of 22 July 2020 and were not related to mental health disability, and it found the 27 July meeting was an informal meeting about behaviour and standards rather than a formal disciplinary process. No remedy figure was recorded in the liability judgment.