NEWS STORY : Heathrow Worker Veleta Brown Loses Employment Claim Against Airport for £1,011,150

STORY

An employment tribunal has dismissed a claim for £1,011,150 from Veleta Brown who claimed that she faced racial discrimination as she was asked to go through a security procedure whilst at Heathrow Airport.

Full Text of Hearing (in .pdf format)

The Claimant, Miss Veleta Brown, brought claims of race discrimination and harassment against her former employer, LHR Airports Limited. She alleged that she was subjected to a private search at a security checkpoint because of her race and that her subsequent complaints were not handled appropriately.

The Tribunal dismissed all of the Claimant’s claims.

Key reasons for the Tribunal’s decision:

The Tribunal found that the private search was initiated because the security scanner was triggered, not because of the Claimant’s race.
The Tribunal found inconsistencies in the Claimant’s evidence, but found the Respondent’s witnesses to be largely consistent and credible.
The Tribunal concluded that the Respondent’s handling of the Claimant’s complaints and grievance, while flawed, was not motivated by race.

Additional points:

The Claimant withdrew her claim of constructive unfair dismissal.
The Respondent was granted permission to call additional witnesses despite the late application.
The Claimant was granted permission to amend her claim to include the grievance process as part of the alleged discrimination.