Mr Mohamed Babiker v London United Busways Limited Heard: Watford Hearing Centre (in person and by video, i.e. a hybrid hearing) — 2022

By a majority, the tribunal held that Mr Mohamed Babiker was not discriminated against because of race within the meaning of s13 Equality Act 2010, and it dismissed the proceedings. The claim arose from disciplinary action after a March 2019 written warning and an April 2019 incident in which the claimant was said to have verbally abused a manager and threatened a supervisor. Mr Allan Southgate dismissed him for gross misconduct and Mr Andy Corbett later rejected the appeal.

The tribunal found that the disciplinary process was carried out in a substantially fair manner. The claimant was told of the allegations, informed that dismissal was a possible outcome, given the chance to call witnesses, allowed to make representations, and given an adjournment while further enquiries were made. On appeal, Mr Corbett investigated the complaints about the witness evidence, the CCTV, and the comparator point before concluding that the dismissal was correct.

The comparator issue concerned Dilan Hendrin. The tribunal noted that the claimant said he was black African and that Mr Hendrin was of Kurdish ethnic origin. The majority accepted that, on the face of it, the claimant appeared to have been treated differently, but found that Mr Corbett had a credible and honest mistaken belief that Mr Hendrin had a clean disciplinary record because the disciplinary letter referred to a good employment record. On that basis, the respondent discharged the burden of showing that the difference in treatment was not due to race. The minority member disagreed on that point, but the majority view prevailed and the claim was dismissed.