Ex-Southend Council employee loses race discrimination case

Miss D Gisby was dismissed by Southend Council following an allegation she had been involved in a “violent altercation” outside of work in which “she used racial slurs” against a member of the public on June 17, 2020, an employment tribunal heard.

Miss Gisby, who is white, denies the allegations and claims the council chose to believe the member of the public’s account because they were black.

She was suspended from work five days after the alleged incident and sacked almost two months later, having declined to attend a meeting with the council to give her account of what happened.

Miss Gisby brought her claim of race discrimination against the council on July 23, 2021.

At a tribunal last month, employment judge C Lewis rejected her race discrimination complaint as it had been issued outside of the legal cut-off point of  three months since the incident, with no mitigating circumstances to explain the delay.

Miss Gisby told the tribunal she “did not have the mental capacity to put in the claim” in time due to period of ill-health that affected her “ability to function in daily life”.

But the judge ruled against her as it was found she had made an application for Universal Credit after her employment ended, and during the period when she had told the tribunal that she had not been able to function.

Miss Gisby also told the tribunal she was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but accepted that she had not provided evidence of a diagnosis.

In his ruling remarks, Judge Lewis said: “The claimant told me that she had brought these proceedings because she wanted to have an opportunity to clear her name.

“However, the issue before the tribunal is not whether the claimant did or did not get into an altercation with someone and use racist slurs towards them, it is about how she was treated by the respondent."

Southend Council has noted the outcome and content of the employment tribunal.