An employment tribunal has dismissed a claim of racial discrimination brought by former Currys employee Adeel Habib, following a workplace dispute over a missing office mug. The tribunal ruled that it was Mr Habib’s “out of proportion” reaction to the loss of his mug, and not race, that contributed to resentment among his colleagues.
Mr Habib, who worked as a credit support associate at Currys’ Poole office from January to March 2023, accused his colleagues of giving him the “cold shoulder” after his mug went missing. He claimed this treatment amounted to racial discrimination. However, Judge David Hughes dismissed the claim after a hearing in Southampton, citing that Mr Habib’s response was “confrontational and disproportionate”.
The tribunal heard that Mr Habib’s reaction to the missing mug at work likely gave his colleagues the impression that he viewed the incident as theft, rather than a simple case of colleagues sharing mugs. Judge Hughes stated that this probably contributed to resentment towards him and was unrelated to Mr Habib’s race or nationality.
The tribunal also highlighted that Mr Habib may have lacked the social skills necessary to navigate the situation effectively. Judge Hughes commented: “Sad though it is to have to say this, it seems to us to be likely that Mr Habib is, unfortunately, ill-equipped to cope with the nuances of social interaction in the workplace, and lacks the sort of social skills that might have eased tensions that arose around the mug incident.”
Further claims dismissed
In addition to the complaint about the missing mug, Mr Habib alleged that Currys discriminated against him by denying him five weeks of holiday leave to attend weddings in Pakistan. He submitted this request a month after joining the company. The tribunal found that Currys applied its holiday policy reasonably in denying the request, rejecting Mr Habib’s claim of racial discrimination.
Mr Habib also claimed that a married colleague had sexually harassed him by leaving a bottle of Juice Burst on his desk, which he considered to have “a sexual connotation”. This claim was dismissed by the tribunal.
While his discrimination and harassment claims were rejected, Mr Habib was awarded three weeks’ additional notice pay. However, the tribunal rejected his further claims for arrears of pay and bonus payments.
A cautionary tale
Jennifer Wright, associate in the employment team at Birketts LLP, told HR review, “The tribunal observed the claimant’s manner in relation to other issues he raised in the case and found that he had probably taken a ‘similarly tenacious’ approach to the mug. This included the claimant using language apt to strike others as confrontational, even if not intended that way.
“As such, the tribunal found that the claimant probably did give his colleagues reason to believe that he thought his mug had been stolen, which was likely to have been the reason for any resentment towards him, and ‘absolutely nothing to do with Mr Habib’s race or nationality’.”
She added that the case is a “cautionary tale” about how small misunderstandings can escalate into conflict.
“The tribunal’s comments about Mr Habib being ‘ill-equipped to cope with the nuances of social interaction’ raise questions about neurodiversity, emotional intelligence, and the importance of employers putting in place clear workplace policies that facilitate understanding of expected behaviours and foster inclusion,” she added.
“The tribunal’s dismissal of the claims is a reminder of the requirement for strong and relevant evidence in order to bring a successful claim.”
