Omotayo Adigun
A UK employment tribunal has ruled in favor of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), dismissing a racism lawsuit filed by Victor Stanley-Idum, a British civil servant of Nigerian background.
Stanley-Idum, a senior executive officer at the MoD, claimed racial discrimination after being disciplined for conducting personal errands during official working hours.
The case stemmed from an informal warning issued to Stanley-Idum in 2021 regarding what his management described as a “casual attitude to working hours.”
In response, Stanley-Idum accused his superiors of harboring a stereotypical view that “Black Africans are lazy.”
However, the employment tribunal sided with the MoD after hearing evidence detailing Stanley-Idum’s conduct during COVID-era remote working. The tribunal was informed that Stanley-Idum was frequently absent, missed scheduled meetings, and provided various personal reasons for his unavailability, including purchasing a vacuum cleaner and experiencing internet connectivity issues.
Following a series of these absences, his line manager, Sharon Docherty, implemented a more structured work schedule requiring Stanley-Idum to outline his daily duties and report his working hours. The situation escalated when Stanley-Idum allegedly took an Uber to the airport during business hours, claiming he was still working remotely while in transit.
Subsequently, Stanley-Idum sued the MoD for racial harassment, disability discrimination, and victimization, arguing that racial preconceptions were the underlying cause of what he perceived as bullying and unjust treatment.
READ ALSO: EU to invest €5.4m on teachers’ training in Nigeria
Employment Judge Tim Adkin, who presided over the tribunal, stated that the evidence presented did not support the claim that Docherty or the MoD held any stereotypical opinions about Black Africans.
Judge Adkin noted, “He was working remotely, as indeed were most of his colleagues. There were a series of concerns raised about his output and it was difficult to monitor what [he] was working on. There is evidence that he was taking time during the working day to do things that were unrelated to work. We have not formed the impression based on all the evidence in this case that Mrs Docherty held a stereotypical view of black Africans being lazy or dishonest nor indeed that that was a widely held stereotype.”
The tribunal also found Stanley-Idum’s assertion that he worked from the back of an Uber to be “unconvincing.” Additionally, the tribunal highlighted that Stanley-Idum had committed to attending a team-building event at Sandhurst but ultimately failed to do so.
Ultimately, all of Stanley-Idum’s claims of racial harassment, disability discrimination, and victimization were dismissed by the employment tribunal.
According to The Telegraph, the virtual proceedings revealed that Stanley-Idum began his employment at the MoD in April 2017 as an analyst. He was later promoted to the position of project manager within the central transformation team in April 2020, which coincided with the commencement of the UK’s COVID-19 lockdown.