The Claimant is an Italian citizen, and therefore also a citizen of an EU member state and of an EEA member state. The first complaint related to a letter or letters written by the Respondent because of what it understood, or believed, to be a change in the immigration status (post-Brexit) of employees including the Claimant, and the effects of that change on the Respondent’s own position as an employer. The second complaint related to being “singled out and disciplined” for not reporting a suspected concern about breach of Covid safety protocol. The ET dismissed his complaints of race discrimination and he appealed.

The EAT dismissed the appeal. In respect of the first complaint the ET had not erred by concluding that the writing of those letters was not, in the requisite sense, because of the Claimant’s nationality, but was because of the change in his immigration status and the associated introduction of a new settled-status scheme for which he was eligible. The appeal in respect of both complaints also failed, because the ET did not err in concluding that both complaints were presented out of time.