A Tribunal has found that an investigation into allegations against a Tesco store manager was ‘unfairly focused’ on establishing his guilt and that it “lacked even-handedness” by not giving proper consideration to all the evidence. It also found that Tesco Stores discriminated against the claimant because of his race by dismissing him and failing to investigate his concerns about the racism of one of his colleagues.
Shoaib Razaq worked for Tesco as a store manager from 2020. Following a number of complaints about his behaviour from two employees at the store, which Razaq described as a “witch hunt”, the investigation resulted in suspension and disciplinary action which led to his dismissal. The Tribunal described the statement by the manager who chaired the hearing as “deliberately false”.
At the appeal there was again a failure to investigate Razaq’s counter claims of racism as part of the disciplinary process. The Tribunal took the view that the claimant’s concerns about racism being a motivation for the grievance brought against him was “supported by evidence”.
