A Muslim banker who lost his job after contacting his bosses on Christmas Day was unfairly dismissed, an Employment Tribunal has ruled.

Joynal Choudhury, head of real estate at Gatehouse, was made redundant in August 2019 in what the company called a restructure. However, Mr Choudhury believed his dismissal to be unfair because, in the year leading up to his dismissal, his relationship with CEO Charles Haresnape and Chief Commercial Officer Paul Stockwell had become unpleasant and difficult.

The decline in their relationships began when Mr Choudhury sent emails to try to get in touch with his bosses on Christmas Day in 2018, as he had become concerned about his liability with regards to a loan. He emailed and telephoned Mr Stockwell on Christmas Eve and again on Christmas Day in an effort to clarify his situation.

A disgruntled Mr Haresnape told his employee the Christmas Day emails could have waited, asked if he realised “for many today is a festive period” and threatened to “disrupt” future Islamic holidays in retaliation, the Tribunal heard.

Six months later, in June 2019, the panel heard Mr Choudhury was on leave for Eid, attending mosque and visiting family and friends. On the same day, Mr Haresnape and Mr Stockwell were discussing a company restructure, which would include letting Mr Choudhury go. Later that day, Mr Haresnape emailed Mr Choudhury asking for an “urgent update” about a business matter.

The banker told the Tribunal he thought this was his boss deliberately interrupting his Eid celebrations as he claimed he had threatened to do in the January meeting.

The Tribunal concluded:

“A number of matters arose in late 2018 and early 2019 which caused a deterioration in his previously good relationships with Mr Haresnape and Mr Stockwell, caused animosity towards him and, he believed, led ultimately to his dismissal. [They] had no great liking for [Mr Choudhury]. Both had found [his] behaviour at Christmas 2018 annoying.”

The panel ruled that the redundancy process was essentially a sham as it had already been decided that Mr Choudhury would lose his job. It said:

“The telephone call was evidence that a planned outcome of the redundancy process was the dismissal of the claimant.”

Failure to carry out a proper redundancy process can result in unfair dismissal claims. Employees must be selected for redundancy in a fair way, and may be eligible for certain rights, including redundancy pay, a notice period, a specified consultation period, the option to move into a different job, and time off to find a new job.

Ruling in favour of Mr Choudhury, the panel said the bank had unlawfully deducted his wages by at least £8,242. A hearing to decide the full extent of his compensation will be held at a later date.