L Millar and R Taggart Mr R Doull v Renfrew Transport Services Ltd — 2024

The tribunal found that Renfrew Transport Services Limited, not Renfrew Warehousing & Distribution Limited, remained the claimant’s employer throughout his employment. It upheld the claimant’s wages and holiday pay complaints, finding he had not been paid from 25 December 2023 to 13 January 2024 and that he had four days of accrued but untaken annual leave at termination.

On disability, the tribunal found that the claimant was disabled by reason of hand arm vibration syndrome (HAVS), but not by reason of his mental ill health impairment at the relevant times because it was not shown to have a long-term effect within the statutory definition. The direct disability discrimination and disability-related harassment complaints, which were advanced by reference to the mental health impairment, were therefore dismissed. The complaint of discrimination arising from disability succeeded because the tribunal found the respondent removed an auto-close device from a fire door, causing the claimant to have to close the door manually and use his hands in a way that caused difficulty because of HAVS, and the respondent provided no adequate explanation for that treatment.

The tribunal also found that the claimant made protected disclosures in November 2023 about fire extinguishers and the removal of the auto-close device, both concerning health and safety risks and made in the public interest. It held that the claimant’s suspension on 22 December 2023 was a detriment materially influenced by those disclosures, and that his dismissal on 13 January 2024 was automatically unfair because the reason, or principal reason, for dismissal was that he had made protected disclosures.

For remedy, the tribunal awarded compensation for unlawful deductions, holiday pay, discrimination arising from disability, whistleblowing detriment, and automatic unfair dismissal. It awarded injury to feelings for the disability discrimination and whistleblowing detriment complaints, with interest, and awarded a basic award plus statutory notice pay for the automatic unfair dismissal claim. The separate notice pay and statutory redundancy payment claims were dismissed.