Mr J I Lofulo v McCurrach UK Ltd — 2025

Mr J I Lofulo was employed by McCurrach UK Ltd on a fixed-term contract from 5 June 2024 to 30 August 2024. He brought complaints about unlawful deductions from wages, race discrimination and victimisation. The tribunal found that the claimant's contract and the respondent's handbook and fleet policy allowed deductions for parking and vehicle-related fines, but the respondent still had to give advance notice of the deduction from wages itself. It held that the £295 taken from the claimant's August salary was not notified in advance and was therefore an unlawful deduction from wages.

The tribunal rejected the race discrimination claim. It found that the claimant was not treated differently from comparators in relation to scrutiny or support, that the delayed provision of branded clothing did not amount to a detriment in the circumstances, and that the non-extension of the fixed-term contract was because the role the claimant had been covering was ending, not because of race. It also accepted RFW's evidence that her question after the stabbing incident was whether the attackers were part of a gang, not that the claimant was part of a gang.

The victimisation claim also failed. The tribunal found that the claimant had not established a protected act before the alleged detrimental treatment and that the later grievance did not change that position. It accepted the respondent's witnesses as credible and reliable, preferred their evidence over the claimant's on the disputed conversation and the contract-ending decision, and dismissed the discrimination and victimisation claims in full. The only monetary award recorded was repayment of the £295 unlawfully deducted from wages; the later withholding of bonus-related sums was found to be lawful.