Claimant v Excel Hospitality Limited
Outcome
Individual claims
The tribunal found the claimant was not treated less favourably because of race. On all factual allegations, the tribunal either found they did not happen (e.g., alleged racist comments by Ms Birch) or, where they did occur (e.g., dismissal, not celebrating birthday, being assigned basic tasks), the reasons were unrelated to race. The tribunal found the claimant an unreliable witness and accepted the respondent's evidence that performance issues drove all decisions. The burden of proof was not discharged.
The tribunal found the claimant did not do a protected act. The tribunal found as fact that the claimant did not raise allegations of racial bias on 6 January 2023 or 9 January 2023 as she claimed. Her resignation email's reference to 'biased attitude' was not understood as a discrimination allegation. The first time she raised race discrimination was in her appeal letter on 29 May 2023, which post-dated all the alleged detriments, so victimisation could not be established.
Facts
Ms Marston, a Black African woman, was employed as an Accounts Assistant from November 2022. She struggled with basic tasks from the outset, making repeated errors in invoicing and spreadsheet work. She resigned in January 2023 citing a 'biased attitude' from her trainer but was persuaded to stay. Performance issues continued and she was dismissed in May 2023 during her probationary period. She claimed this was race discrimination and that she had raised racial bias complaints which were ignored, leading to victimisation.
Decision
The tribunal dismissed all claims. It found the claimant an unreliable witness and accepted the respondent's evidence. The alleged racist comments were found not to have been made. All treatment of the claimant was found to be due to genuine performance issues, not race. The tribunal found the claimant had never raised allegations of racial bias until her appeal letter, which post-dated the alleged detriments, so victimisation could not succeed.
Practical note
Credibility findings are crucial in discrimination cases: the tribunal's assessment that the claimant was unreliable and prone to shifting narratives was determinative, and tribunals will examine whether discrimination allegations were actually raised contemporaneously or only emerged later in litigation.
Legal authorities cited
Statutes
Case details
- Case number
- 2305117/2023
- Decision date
- 23 July 2025
- Hearing type
- full merits
- Hearing days
- 4
- Classification
- contested
Respondent
- Sector
- hospitality
- Represented
- Yes
- Rep type
- solicitor
Employment details
- Role
- Accounts Assistant
- Service
- 6 months
Claimant representation
- Represented
- No