In this case of Daleside Nursing Home vs Mrs C Matthew the EAT found that Mrs C Matthew had indeed fabricated a ‘deliberate and cynical lie’ in claiming she had been named a ‘black bitch’ by new management: Also finding the ‘unfair underpayment’ of 50p per hour unfounded as she had accepted it for months with no qualms.
Senior partner at Beech Jones de Lloyd and the lawyer for Daleside, Paul Dumbleton was overjoyed, ‘Although I am not an employment lawyer, it was obvious to me that if the costs were not awarded in a case brought upon fabricated allegations then they would never be awarded’
The EAT overrode the first instance actions of the Liverpool Employment Tribunal, who stated that the “allegation of explicit and offensive racial abuse was false”, and it refused to order Mathew to pay costs as she “did have a genuine belief that the claim had some merit”. This surely is a monumental moment for race discrimination and tribunal outcomes everywhere, with zero tolerance for foul play firmly in evidence.
