The claimant, a white British paramedic, was investigated and disciplined following two incidents in 2020 one of which was an overheard conversation in which he denied the existence of systemic racism. A disciplinary hearing issued him a final written warning and required him to complete unconscious bias training, attend a black allyship workshop and a written reflective practice which he refused to do. He brought claims of direct discrimination on grounds of race and belief: his belief being that all people are one race and should be treated equally. The ET upheld three belief discrimination complaints and one race discrimination complaint by majority so the respondent appealed.

In this judgment HHJ Auerbach upheld all grounds of appeal. Most importantly he dismissed the ET's conclusions about protected belief as there was inconsistency in their description of the supposed protected belief. Moreover the race discrimination finding was unsupported by the evidence and so perverse. All four complaints were dismissed by substitution; no remission was necessary.