London Ambulance Service Loses Race Discrimination Appeal Over Feedback Delay
An Employment Appeal Tribunal has overturned a finding of race discrimination against the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust concerning delayed feedback.
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Appeal Tribunal Overturns Employment Tribunal's Race Discrimination Finding
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has allowed an appeal by the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust, overturning an earlier Employment Tribunal decision that found the Trust had directly discriminated against a former employee, Mr I Sodola, due to his race by delaying feedback on a promotion application.
Key Issues: Burden of Proof and Feedback Delays
The core of the appeal centred on whether the primary facts found by the Employment Tribunal logically supported an inference that the delay in providing feedback was due to Mr Sodola's race. The EAT considered the application of Section 136 of the Equality Act 2010, which governs the burden of proof in discrimination cases.
Mr Sodola had applied for a Team Manager role in April 2020, his fourth attempt at securing the position. He contended that he was more qualified than white colleagues who had previously been successful. The Employment Tribunal found that the decision not to promote him was not discriminatory, as he had scored lower than the successful candidates. However, the tribunal upheld his complaint regarding the significant delay in receiving written feedback, which eventually arrived on 23 August 2020, approximately three months after his interview.
EAT's Analysis: Lack of Logical Connection
His Honour Judge James Tayler, presiding over the appeal, determined that the Employment Tribunal had erred in its analysis. The judge found that while the delay in providing feedback was poor practice, the primary facts established by the tribunal did not reasonably support the conclusion that this delay was motivated by Mr Sodola's race. The EAT noted that many of the factors considered by the Employment Tribunal, such as the claimant's application history and his broader concerns about BAME staff progression, might have been relevant to a victimisation complaint, but not to the direct race discrimination claim concerning the feedback delay.
The judge stated, "The primary facts found by the Employment Tribunal could not reasonably support a finding that the reason for the delay in the provision of feedback to the claimant was because of his race. The burden did not shift to the respondent and so the appeal is allowed and the finding of discrimination set aside."
Crucially, the EAT found that the factors cited by the Employment Tribunal, including the inadequacy of the initial verbal feedback, the insufficient written feedback, and the failure to comply with record-keeping policies, did not logically suggest that the feedback delay was race-motivated. These were seen as descriptions of the treatment itself, rather than evidence of discriminatory intent.
The appeal was allowed, and the finding of race discrimination in relation to the delay in providing feedback was set aside.
Read the entire judgement here: London Ambulance Service NHS Trust v Mr I Sodola (Debarred) [2026] EAT 6
