D'Souza v London Borough Of Lambeth

EMPLOYMENT APPEAL TRIBUNAL 58 VICTORIA EMBANKMENT, LONDON EC4Y 0DS At the Tribunal On 4 February 1997, on 22 and 23 May 1997 Judgment delivered on 9 October 1997 Before

By way of remedy, the Industrial Tribunal made a declaration that Mr D'Souza had been discriminated against on racial grounds and they ordered the London Borough of Lambeth to pay him �500 compensation for injury to his feelings. They observed that the applicant did not contend that he would have been given the appointment even if he had been short-listed and, therefore, they were not prepared to award him any financial compensation through loss of the opportunity to obtain promotion.

He arranged to take a holiday, and, on his return, found that he had not been paid for the month of October. He submitted a statutory questionnaire. The Borough did not respond to it. His union representative was told that Mr D'Souza had to go because an Industrial Tribunal case had cost a lot of money. The Industrial Tribunal's conclusion was as follows:

The Industrial Tribunal concluded that Mr D'Souza was entitled to compensation for injury to his feelings caused by the "unjustified and unlawful suspension". They described such action as "severe in the extreme", and awarded aggravated damages which they assessed at �3,000.

The fifth complaint related to his dismissal in January 1990. This case was heard by a tribunal sitting at London (South) on 16th November 1992. The London Borough of Lambeth did not appear. They relied on written representations. In their Notice of Appearance the Borough accepted that Mr D'Souza was unfairly dismissed and they said this: