Burden of proof

Case 15: The facts

Ms Mudanowho, who is black and of African origin, was dismissed from her job as supervisor at a bus depot after only six months, with no dismissal procedure and no adequate reason given. She claimed that her dismissal amounted to race discrimination, and that the company was dismissing black African workers in order to replace them with Portuguese workers. A tribunal upheld her claim.

The ruling

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that the tribunal had not provided adequate reasoning to support its decision, and sent the case to a different tribunal for re-hearing.

Mudanowho’s employer had given evidence that:

• her post had been offered to a black African worker, who had turned it down, before being given to a Portuguese worker;

• it had a policy of not following procedures when dismissing any worker with less than a year’s service; and

• the reason for Mudanowho’s dismissal was poor performance.

Although it might have been the case that the tribunal did not believe this evidence, the EAT pointed out that it had not said this; therefore it had shown insufficient reasons for upholding the claim.

Interclean Bus Services Ltd v Mudanowho EAT/0418/06