Johnson and Johnson Medical Limited v Tolulope Fayokun

Facts

The claimant, born and raised in Nigeria before relocating to the UK in 2007, worked for the respondent as Senior Manager, Global Strategic Insights, from April 2017, reporting to Alessandra Toro, Director for Strategic Insights and Analytics. Following tensions over workload and appraisal feedback, Ms Toro, a certified Berlitz "cultural fluency" trainer, produced profiling documents aligning the claimant alone with a generic Nigerian working profile. At a one-to-one meeting on 19 April 2018 she discussed the profile with the claimant, saying "I know I've been poking you" and referring to "Nigerian traits", which were later linked to colleagues' reluctance to work with her. The claimant's grievance was rejected and she was dismissed for capability in January 2020 after prolonged sickness absence. She had presented numerous claims to the Employment Tribunal on 17 July 2019. The Tribunal, sitting at Reading, dismissed most complaints but upheld three interrelated allegations of direct race discrimination arising from the profiling exercise, extending time for their presentation on the just and equitable basis. The respondent appealed on seven grounds; following a sift by HHJ James Tayler and a Rule 3(10) hearing before Judge Susan Walker KC (hon), six grounds were permitted to proceed, three concerning the discrimination findings and three concerning the extension of time.