Mr R Omamore, Trade Union Official For the v Respondent — 2019

The tribunal found that the claimant was employed under a written contract with Resource Management Solution Limited and, after the relevant transfer, by BCA Vehicle Services Limited, not by Renault UK Limited. It accepted that Renault exercised day-to-day control over some aspects of the claimant's work and was involved in holidays, discipline, and grievance matters, but held that those features did not make it necessary to imply a contract of employment between the claimant and Renault. The tribunal also rejected reliance on section 83 of the Equality Act 2010 as a route to establishing Renault as the employer for unfair dismissal purposes.

On the unfair dismissal claim, the tribunal accepted that there had been longstanding performance and conduct concerns, including criticism of the claimant's case handling, her reactions to feedback, and the incident on 30 January 2019. It found that BCA's decision-maker, Mr Griffiths, tried to persuade Renault to allow the claimant to return with performance management and monitoring, but Renault refused because it considered the working relationship had broken down and her performance had not improved. The claimant declined the alternative roles offered by BCA and was dismissed on 12 April 2019. The tribunal held that the reason for dismissal was some other substantial reason and that the dismissal was fair in all the circumstances under section 98(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996.

The age discrimination claim failed. The tribunal considered the claimant's reliance on Mr Sajjad as a comparator and held that his case, which involved attendance and lateness problems, was materially different. It found that the disciplinary process, the written warning, Renault's refusal to have the claimant return to its site, and the dismissal were all driven by the claimant's behaviour and performance, not her age. The tribunal also concluded that age played no part in the decisions made by either respondent.

The only monetary award was for holiday pay. The parties had agreed that the claimant had not been paid for three days' untaken holiday at the time of dismissal, with the amount agreed at £300.32. The tribunal therefore ordered the first respondent to pay that sum, and all other claims were dismissed.