Claimant v Metropolitan Police Service

The tribunal found that the alleged acts of unfavourable treatment (shouting, calling the claimant a liar, threatening disciplinary action) did not occur as alleged. The tribunal found Inspector McManus credible and concluded she had not shouted or called the claimant a liar, and that Reflective Practice was not a disciplinary process. Further, even if the acts had occurred, they were not because of something arising from disability: the claimant was off work due to COVID symptoms, not his back injury, and Inspector McManus's concern was the failure to notify her of absence, not the reason for the absence itself.

The tribunal found that several alleged PCPs either did not exist as formulated, or did not place the claimant at a substantial disadvantage. For the Charing Cross incident, the instruction did not include a promise of assistance, so there was no PCP as alleged. For both Charing Cross and Belgravia, the tribunal found that instructions were limited to basic tasks within the claimant's capacity and required dynamic risk assessment; any injury resulted from the claimant exceeding those instructions. For the laptop/tablet claim, there was no medical evidence of substantial disadvantage until a July 2023 report, which post-dated the claims and after which a laptop was provided within 15 days.

The tribunal accepted that the claimant did a protected act by notifying the respondent of his intention to bring a tribunal claim in May 2022. However, the alleged detriments did not occur. The tribunal found the claimant had not been instructed not to speak to PS Reid, but rather there had been a discussion about whether Reid was suitable as a Welfare Officer due to a potential conflict. The tribunal also found the claimant was not without a line manager between August 2022 and March 2023: PS Reid remained his line manager throughout this period, and Augustine Anyaegbuna acted as a second line manager. Email evidence confirmed the claimant continued to treat Reid as his line manager.