Mr T Sylvester v Echo Sourcing Ltd: 2200846/2019
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 16 November 2020 |
| Citation | 2200846/2019 |
| Court | Employment Tribunal |
| Published date | 26 November 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Disability Discrimination |
Case Number: 2200846/2019
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EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS
Claimant Respondents
Mr T Sylvester v Echo Sourcing Limited
Heard at: London Central On: 24 February to 4 March 2020
Before: Employment Judge E Burns
Dr V Weerasinghe
Ms J Cameron
Representation
For the Claimant: In person
For the Respondent: Mr J McCracken (counsel)
RESERVED JUDGMENT
The unanimous judgment of the Employment Tribunal is as follows:
(1) The tribunal does not have jurisdiction to consider the claimant’s claim of
constructive unfair dismissal as it was submitted out of time (issues 5 - 6
below).
(2) The tribunal does not have jurisdiction to consider the claimant’s claim of
direct race discrimination contrary to section 13 of the Equality Act 2010
(issues 7 - 10 below) as it was submitted out of time and it is therefore
dismissed.
(3) The tribunal does not have jurisdiction to consider the claimant’s claim of
indirect race discrimination contrary to section 19 of the Equality Act 2010
(issues 11 - 14 below) as it was submitted out of time and it is therefore
dismissed.
(4) The tribunal does not have jurisdiction to consider the following claims of
harassment related to contrary to section 26 of the Equality Act 2010 as
they were submitted out of time:
Case Number: 2200846/2019
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• Making fun of the claimant’s spelling mistakes and reading them out
loud to others (dyslexia) (issue 15.1 below)
• Making fun of his omission of capital letters; taping down the caps lock
(dyslexia) (issue 15.2 below)
• Asking “what’s wrong with you” when the claimant speaks of issues
15.1 and 15.2 (January 2018) (dyslexia) (issue 15.3 below)
• Requiring the claimant to visit clothes shops abroad as it is part of his
contract, despite being informed this made him the subject of
unpleasant attention because of being black (September 2016,
November or December 2016, April 2017, January 2018) (race) (issue
15.4 below)
These claims are therefore dismissed.
(5) The claimant’s remaining claims of harassment are dismissed, namely:
• Insisting the claimant remove headphones at work (June 2018)
(anxiety and depression) (issue 15.5 below)
• Shouting at the claimant when he speaks of depression (6 September
2019) (anxiety and depression) (issue 15.6 below)
• Asking the claimant to apologise to Nick Sayer and refusing him
separate workspace 11 September (anxiety and depression) (issue
15.7 below)
(6) The tribunal does not have jurisdiction to consider the following claims of
victimisation contrary to section 27 of the Equality Act 2010 as they were
submitted out of time:
• Insisting it is a contractual requirement to travel abroad (Issue 21.1
below)
• Belittling his anxiety about it (January 2018) (Issue 21.2 below)
• Making the claimant revise his annual review letter to omit reference to
bullying related to dyslexia (August 2017) (Issue 21.3 below)
These claims are therefore dismissed.
(7) The claimant’s remaining claims of victimisation are dismissed, namely:
• Shouting at him (Nick Sawyer January 2018) – this one on withdrawal
by the claimant (issue 21.4 below)
• Shouting at him (Nick Sawyer 6 September 2018) (issue 21.5 below)
• Not accepting his letter of grievance (issue 21.6 below)
Case Number: 2200846/2019
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• Asking the claimant to apologise to Nick Sawyer (issue 21.7 below)
• Discouraging the claimant from lodging grievance 17 September 2018
(issue 21.8 below)
• Refusing an alternative workspace (11 September 2018) (issue 21.9
below)
REASONS
CLAIM AND ISSUES
1. By a claim form presented on 12 March 2019, the claimant brought
complaints of direct race discrimination, harassment on the grounds of
race and victimisation.
2. The presentation of the claim form followed a period of early conciliation
against the respondent between 9 January 2019 and 5 February 2019.
3. The claimant describes himself as British Afro-Caribbean. He is black. He
has had dyslexia all of his life. He was diagnosed with severe depression
and anxiety in March 2018 (55). The respondent did not initially accept that
he was disabled, but conceded this point following a preliminary hearing
held for case management purposes.
4. The list of issues agreed at that case management hearing and confirmed
at the start of the final hearing was as follows:
Unfair dismissal claim
5. Did the respondent, without reasonable and proper cause, by its conduct
fundamentally breach the implied term of mutual confidence and trust?
The conduct relied on is:
(1) The bullying course of conduct outlined below as harassment related
to disability
(2) Acts set out under victimisation
(3) Insisting he go on work trips despite expressing discomfort
September 2016, April 2017, January 2018
(4) Making fun of him in summer 2017
(5) Shouting at him in April 2017
(6) Saying in April 2018 he had not made earlier recommendations, and
shouting at him
(7) Shouting at him on 6 September 2018
(8) Discouraging a grievance
(9) Refusing a change of workspace
(10) At various stages failing to act on his complaints of bullying treatment
(11) Telling him on 15 October 2018 no action will be taken on the 6
September episode
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