Member J Lindsay Tribunal Member A McFarlane Mr P McCue v - Solicitor Civil Nuclear Police Authority and 1 other — 2022

The claimant was a Roman Catholic police sergeant based at Hunterston. The tribunal accepted that on 1 June 2020 he found an envelope in his pigeon hole marked "UDA No Surrender", that on 17 August 2020 his wife found a piece of paper with the same words in his work jacket, and that on 30 June 2021 he found "FTP" written on the underside of his mug in the kitchen area. The tribunal treated those incidents as unlawful religious harassment and also set out a background of earlier tensions and management interventions at the unit.

For the first two incidents, the tribunal held that it was more likely than not that the person responsible was someone for whom the respondent was liable and that the acts were done in the course of employment. It also held that the first two incidents were closely connected and, with the third incident, formed conduct extending over a period, so the claims were in time. If that had not been the position, the tribunal said it would in any event have extended time on a just and equitable basis.

The tribunal dismissed the claim relating to the first and second incidents because it found the respondent had taken all reasonable steps before those acts occurred. It relied on the respondent's policies, induction and refresher equality training, briefings, diversity structures, and the steps taken in response to earlier incidents and to support the claimant. It held that it was not reasonable to require a policy-read register or to require more detailed training before those incidents.

The tribunal upheld the claim relating to the 30 June 2021 incident. Although it accepted the respondent had a serious equality and diversity framework in place, it found that after the second incident reasonable steps would have included bringing forward the bespoke face-to-face sectarian training within about six months and commencing a formal internal investigation with staff who might have had relevant information. It held that relying only on Police Scotland and voluntary information was not enough. A separate remedy hearing was to be fixed.