Leamington railway conductor wins year-long compensation battle with employer who deemed his Facebook post to be 'racist and Islamophobic'

A railway conductor from Leamington has won his year-long battle to claim compensation over unfair dismissal over a Facebook post about pubs re-opening during lockdown which his employer had deemed to be 'racist and Islamaphobic'.

Jeremy Sleath was shocked when his employers at West Midlands Trains (WMT) dismissed him after they were made aware of the message he published on his personal Facebook page.

The message, published on July 4 last year after the pubs re-opened following the first Lockdown, said: "Thank F+++, pubs open again, I don't want to live in some sort of alcohol-free Muslim caliphate just to beat Covid-19.

"We must button up, face it, stiff upper lip it, if necessary herd immunity it, but we must learn to live with it and not let our fantastic culture and way of life be trashed."

Mr Sleath, who worked for the company for 17 years and says he only had two days off sick in that time, was called later into a meeting.

He was then suspended on full pay before the matter went to a disciplinary hearing.

He was dismissed on September 15 after the company said it deemed the comment as 'racist and Islamophoblic'.

With his appeal being unsuccessful Mr Sleath took the case to ACAS and an industrial employment tribunal.

The West Midlands Employment Tribunal, which took place on September 23 and 24, ruled this week that West Midlands Trains did not follow proper procedure when it decided to fire him for gross misconduct after the complaint of racism.

But employment judge Geraldine Flood dismissed claims that Mr Sleath's rights to freedom of speech had been violated and called the post 'reckless' while ruling that the decision to dismiss him was ‘substantively fair’.

Mr Sleath said: "While I am claiming reinstatement, unfortunately in employment tribunal unfair dismissal cases, the judge rarely enforces reinstatement; and if he or she does, the employer usually appeals it.

"However this is a great victory for freedom of speech.

"I successfully, single-handedly got the case through the preliminary hearings to a full tribunal with no legal representation or help from my union the RMT (Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers) and with no legal experience.

"At which point the Free Speech Union stepped in and crowdfunded nearly £25,000 in a matter of days to enable me to afford a solicitor and barrister from a top London law firm."

Mr Sleath said his dismissal came as the result of one person taking a screenshot of his Facebook post and sending it to WMT bosses as a complaint.

He said: "I had merely expressed my relief that the pubs were open again after the first lockdown in July 2020.

"I subsequently pointed out that I wouldn't want to live in any one-party state, even if it was my faith, Atheism.

"As a Secular Atheist, I maintained I was discriminated against and subjected to Secularophobia.

"The preliminary hearing Judge - Mr David Battisby - ruled that Secular, Pluralist Atheism was a protected characteristic under the Equalities Act, as I had argued.

"We can't have employers acting like 19th Century mill owners and deciding what political opinions their employees can have.

"To be sacked after 17 years service with West Midlands Trains as a senior conductor, with just two days off sick in all that time, was disgraceful.

"Bizarrely, one of the reasons given for sacking me was that I said I wouldn't wish to holiday in somewhere like Dubai.

"WMT also called my post "Islamophobic and racist", [which is] crazy."

The case will now goes on to another hearing to decide on compensation for Mr Sleath.

A West Midlands Trains spokesman said: “We accept the ruling of the tribunal in relation to the procedure followed in this case.

"We welcome that the court found the decision to dismiss was ‘substantively fair’.

“West Midlands Trains remains an inclusive organisation and there is no place for divisive or prejudicial language or behaviours in the rail industry.”