Racism claims | Civil Servant told off for shopping during work loses tribunal

A Ministry of Defence (MoD) civil servant who was disciplined for taking an Uber airport run and going shopping during working hours has lost his tribunal claims for racial harassment, direct race discrimination and victimisation.

Victor Stanley-Idum, who describes himself as Black African, brought the case against the MoD after receiving an informal warning over concerns about his availability and conduct, including leaving his laptop behind while on an airport run, and being unavailable during working hours after a trip to buy a Hoover.

He alleged that these actions were racially motivated and amounted to harassment. However, an employment tribunal found that all of his claims were either brought out of time or not well founded.

The tribunal heard that during his employment as a Senior Executive Officer (Grade C1) in the Transformation Directorate, Stanley-Idum failed to adhere to basic workplace expectations. In October 2021, after concerns including “taking time to conduct private meetings e.g. airport runs, court hearings etc – without annotating in your calendar your movements or recording leave”, he was issued an informal warning.