L Brown and A Grant Mr James MacNaughton v Represented by: Mr T Merck - Advocate [Instructed by: Ms S Shiels –15 Solicitor Calmac Ferries Ltd and 3 others — 2023

The claimant alleged that, after he used the services of Prospect trade union in 2014 following the termination of a Watchkeeping Engineer appointment, the respondents treated him as a troublemaker, subjected him to detriment, and blacklisted him. The tribunal found that the 2014 events involved an issue with the claimant's certification for the vessel and a standard negotiation of a settlement package, and did not accept that the respondent formed an adverse view of him because of trade union involvement.

The tribunal accepted that a CV file had been renamed with the word "Blacklist" and that the term was used to indicate "do not employ". It found, however, that the document was the claimant's CV rather than a prohibited list, and that it was not compiled or used for the purpose of treating him less favourably on grounds of trade union membership or activities. The tribunal also found that there was no evidence that the respondents operated a trade union blacklist.

For the applications considered, the tribunal found reasons unrelated to trade union activities, including certification requirements, local residence or role requirements, vacancies being filled by internal trainees, and later concerns arising from the claimant's 2017 conviction and associated behaviours in light of the respondents' values and public-facing ferry roles. The tribunal concluded that the claimant was not denied employment for the purpose of penalising him for using trade union services, and dismissed the claim in its entirety.