Miss Y Makarova v Intervision Gaming (UK) Limited (Trading as The Razz) — 2025

Miss Y Makarova was employed by Intervision Gaming (UK) Limited trading as The Razz as a Night Shift Supervisor at the Inverness site from 12 August to 30 September 2024. The case arose after she became unwell during a night shift on 28/29 September 2024, went home, and informed Ms De Vita that she could not cover the store until the day-shift handover. Ms De Vita later dismissed her with immediate effect, describing the conduct as gross misconduct.

The direct race discrimination claim failed. The tribunal accepted that the claimant had pointed to other incidents in which colleagues were not dismissed, but held that those colleagues were not valid comparators because they were more junior and the claimant was the most senior night-shift supervisor. It also found no preliminary facts from which race discrimination could be inferred; the evidence instead showed that Ms De Vita had lost confidence in how the claimant handled the staffing gap and believed she had not done enough to remedy or escalate it.

The notice claim succeeded as wrongful dismissal. The tribunal found that the claimant was ill, that Mr Russell knew she had gone home, and that her conduct did not amount to a repudiatory breach of contract. At most, her response to the staffing issue was a minor breach and could be viewed as too little too late, but it was not serious enough to justify dismissal without notice.

The tribunal noted that the respondent later paid the claimant the equivalent of one week's pay, net of deductions, on 28 January 2025. That payment fully compensated her claimable loss, so although the wrongful dismissal complaint succeeded, no damages or other compensation were awarded.