In the case of Woodhouse v West North West Homes Leeds an employer suffered from a successful victimisation claim from Mr Woodhouse which many other employers will find to be harsh.
Mr Woodhouse is black. Over a period of four years, he lodged ten internal grievances alleging race discrimination and brought seven employment tribunal claims against his employer. They were almost all found to be 'empty allegations without any proper evidential basis or grounds for his suspicion'.
The employer eventually dismissed him, because of a breakdown in trust and confidence. An employment tribunal held this was not victimisation, because the employer would similarly have dismissed any employee, irrespective of their race, who had brought a similar number of meritless grievances and claims.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) held this to be incorrect. The grievances and tribunal claims were 'protected acts' in accordance with the Equality Act 2010 and Mr Woodhouse had been dismissed because he made those protected acts. There was no suggestion of bad faith on Mr Woodhouse’s behalf. Since he was dismissed for making protected acts, his victimisation claim was made out.
Kate Fretten is a Partner at Frettens and she heads our Employment Team. She comments "We can confirm that the decision by the EAT is correct from a legal perspective, no matter how unfair it may appear to the employer. In the absence of bad faith, this case provides that an employer cannot dismiss an employee who makes serial but misguided complaints of any sort of discrimination. The decision is a frustrating one for employers as they may feel that an employee has destroyed the trust and confidence between them, but nevertheless will face a claim if they do go ahead and dismiss."
Please call 01202 499255 and Kate or a member of her team will be happy to discuss any questions you may have.