ETZ 4(WR) EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS (SCOTLAND) Case No: 4120854/2018 & 2206548/2018 Hearing at Edinburgh on 21, and May 2019 Employment Judge M A Macleod Tribunal Member S Cardownie Tribunal Member P Kelman (1) Aleksandr Trifonov v (2) Kristina Karpes Amazon UK Services Limited — 2019

The tribunal heard joined claims by Aleksandr Trifonov and Kristina Karpes against Amazon UK Services Ltd at Edinburgh on 21, 22 and 23 May 2019. It first noted that, because the claimants had not come prepared to deal with mitigation or loss evidence, the hearing was restricted to liability. The tribunal ultimately dismissed both claimants’ claims of unfair dismissal and race discrimination.

On the facts, the tribunal found that each claimant was employed by Amazon and that both were absent from work from 14 May 2018. Amazon investigated allegations that they had fraudulently claimed company sick pay while travelling in Finland during that absence. The tribunal accepted that Mr Dougan, the dismissing officer, had a genuine belief in misconduct, and that there were reasonable grounds for that belief based on Facebook images, bank statements and the claimants’ inconsistent explanations. Applying s.98 ERA 1996, Burchell and the Iceland Frozen Foods approach, the tribunal held that the investigation and procedure were reasonable and that dismissal fell within the range of reasonable responses.

The tribunal rejected the claimants’ argument that they had been unfairly treated because they were on sick leave with fit notes or because their contracts did not expressly forbid foreign travel. It held that the key point was that they had been absent on sickness absence while taking what amounted to annual leave, and that they had lied about their whereabouts when questioned. It also rejected the suggestion that another employee had been treated differently on the same facts, finding insufficient evidence to support a comparison.

On the race discrimination claims under section 13(1) of the Equality Act 2010, the tribunal found no evidence that Mr Dougan acted less favourably because the claimants were Russian. It accepted his denial of discriminatory comments and of giving Mr Trifonov an excessive workload. It also rejected the complaint about interpreters, finding that Mr Trifonov was provided with a Russian interpreter when he asked for one, that another interpreter was offered if needed at appeal, and that there was no evidence Ms Karpes asked for one. The tribunal therefore dismissed the discrimination claims in full.