Latest news with #VictorStanley-Idum
Daily Mail
24-04-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Civil servant sues for racism after he is disciplined for going shopping for a vacuum cleaner while supposed to be working from home
A Ministry of Defence civil servant sued for racism after he was disciplined for buying a vacuum cleaner and taking an Uber to the airport while he was supposed to be working from home during the pandemic. Victor Stanley-Idum gave a series of excuses of why he was away from his desk during office hours - including that he needed to go and buy a Hoover, an employment tribunal heard. The Senior Executive Officer caused concern among his bosses due to his 'casual attitude to working hours' which came as he and his colleagues were working remotely and the usual management supervision was 'absent', the hearing was told. As a result he was put on a strict timetable so they could better monitor how he was spending his time, the tribunal was told. But after this his relationship with his managers deteriorated to the point that Mr Stanley-Idum - who is British of Nigerian heritage - sued the MoD for racism, claiming that his boss held a stereotypical view of 'Black Africans being lazy'. However, his claims have been dismissed with the tribunal finding bosses had acted as his working day had become 'unstructured' and he was doing 'things that were unrelated to work'. The hearing - held remotely - was told that Mr Stanley-Idum started work at the MoD as an analyst in April 2017 before being promoted to work as a project manager in the Central Transformation team in April 2020, a month after lockdown began. By the autumn of the following year, however, his managers had significant doubts about his ability to do the job and his 'unorthodox' working style, the tribunal heard. 'The background in October 2021 was the unusual situation in which colleagues were working remotely from each other because of Covid-19 lockdowns and home working, and the usual office interaction and management supervision was almost entirely absent in the case of [Mr Stanley-Idum ] and the department he was working in,' the hearing was told. His boss, Sharon Docherty, became concerned about his 'casual attitude to working hours' and to 'arrangements made with colleagues', the tribunal heard. This included arriving late for a meeting claiming he had had to deal with his council tax bill, failing to tell managers he was moving house and so would be without broadband on a work day and not attending work away days. In addition, he missed a morning's work to pick up family members from the airport. '[Questioned about it] he stated that he had taken his laptop with him, took an Uber taxi and 'conducted my day's affairs while at the airport and in the back of my Uber',' the hearing was told. '[The MoD's] evidence was that the sensitive documents which the team worked on were not held locally on laptops and therefore team members would need to be online to carry out their work. 'The Tribunal found [his] evidence on the extent to which he was able to work at the same time as carrying out this airport run unconvincing.' MoD bosses believed he was giving them 'inconsistent or inaccurate accounts' of what had occurred and issued him with an informal warning for minor misconduct claiming he had 'misrepresented his availability to work'. As part of the warning, Mrs Docherty issued Mr Stanley-Idum with a timetable instructing him to check in and out of work at fixed times. Amid growing concerns about his performance and behaviour, in September 2022 he missed an email inviting him to a meeting because 'he had taken a break and run to the store to buy a new Hoover', the tribunal heard. The project manager unsuccessfully launched a grievance over his treatment claiming Mrs Docherty was invoking 'a racial stereotype of laziness and dishonesty in relation to [him.]' He then sued the MoD for race and disability discrimination, race harassment and victimisation. Many of his claims had been made too late and of those that weren't, none were upheld by the tribunal. Employment Judge Tim Adkin said: 'We find that the reason for the approach taken by Mrs Docherty was entirely that she had become concerned that [his] performance in his role and that working day had become unstructured. 'He was working remotely, as indeed were most of his colleagues. There were a series of concerns raised about his output and it was difficult to monitor what [he]t was workingon. 'There is evidence that was taking time during the working day to do things that were unrelated to work. 'We have not formed the impression based on all the evidence in this case that Mrs Docherty held a stereotypical view of Black Africans being lazy or dishonest nor indeed that that was a widely held stereotype.'
Telegraph
23-04-2025
- Telegraph
Civil servant sued MoD for racism after being disciplined for working in Uber
A civil servant sued for racism after he was disciplined for taking an Uber to the airport during working hours, an employment tribunal has heard. Victor Stanley-Idum, a senior executive officer at the Ministry of Defence, claimed his manager held a stereotypical view of 'black Africans being lazy' after he was given an official warning for his 'casual attitude to working hours'. He gave a series of excuses for why he was away from his desk, including that he needed to go and buy a vacuum cleaner, the tribunal was told. Sharon Docherty, his manager, gave Mr Stanley-Idum an informal warning on Oct 27 2021 for repeatedly being unavailable for work without giving prior warning. Most of the incidents took place in the autumn of 2021 while the department was largely working remotely – a legacy of the pandemic – which meant 'management supervision was almost entirely absent'. As a result of the complaints, he was placed on a strict timetable which dictated the exact hours he was expected to work and meant he had to outline his objectives and achievements each day. The project manager had unsuccessfully launched a grievance over his treatment in January 2022, claiming he was subject to 'a racial stereotype of laziness and dishonesty' and being 'bullied at work'. He then sued the MoD for race and disability discrimination, race harassment and victimisation. He initially brought the claim against five individuals, but ultimately only pursued the claim against the MoD. All claims rejected Many of his claims were submitted to the court too late, and of those that were valid, none were upheld by the tribunal. Employment Judge Tim Adkin said: 'He was working remotely, as indeed were most of his colleagues. There were a series of concerns raised about his output and it was difficult to monitor what [he] was working on. 'There is evidence that he was taking time during the working day to do things that were unrelated to work. 'We have not formed the impression based on all the evidence in this case that Mrs Docherty held a stereotypical view of black Africans being lazy or dishonest nor indeed that that was a widely held stereotype.' Mr Stanley-Idum had tried to justify his unplanned absences by citing disruption in his personal life, including 'broadband issues' experienced while he was moving house, which meant he was offline for hours. While he claimed he had completed his morning's work on his phone and laptop in the back of the Uber when picking up family from the airport on October 12 2021, the tribunal found this 'unconvincing'. MoD bosses believed he was giving them 'inconsistent or inaccurate accounts' and were also concerned about his availability after he failed to attend a team away day at Sandhurst military academy in Berkshire two weeks earlier. Although he had indicated he would join the team-building outing in person, he ended up attending virtually. Managers also noted he logged on late and left early. In September 2022, amid growing concerns about his performance and behaviour, he missed an email inviting him to a meeting because 'he had taken a break and run to the store to buy a new Hoover', the tribunal heard. The proceedings, held remotely, heard that Mr Stanley-Idum started work at the MoD as an analyst in April 2017 before being promoted to work as a project manager in the central transformation team in April 2020, a month after lockdown began. By autumn 2021, however, his managers had significant doubts about his ability to do the job and his 'unorthodox' working style.
