North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust

Case Summary

Dr Agbo brought claims of unfair dismissal and race discrimination against North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust following termination of his fixed-term locum consultant contract in August 2023. The respondent conceded procedural unfairness but the tribunal found substantively that dismissal was fair because the claimant had failed to obtain specialist registration within the 2-year timeframe that applied to all locum consultants. The race discrimination claim was dismissed as not well-founded; the tribunal found no evidence of less favourable treatment based on race.

The tribunal found the substantive dismissal fair because the claimant had not obtained specialist registration within the 2-year timeframe that applied as a fixed-term condition to all such locum consultant positions; this was a legitimate business reason unrelated to race. The race discrimination claim failed because the claimant had not established facts from which race discrimination could be inferred; the comparator (Katie Marshall) was not in materially similar circumstances as she had already obtained specialist registration and was not subject to GMC undertakings.

• •Whether the claimant was unfairly dismissed for some other substantial reason (failure to obtain GMC specialist registration)
• •Whether the dismissal was substantively fair under s.98(4) ERA 1996
• •Whether the claimant was directly discriminated against on grounds of race in relation to contract termination and non-shortlisting for consultant posts
• •Comparative treatment with Katie Marshall (shortlisting issue)
• •Whether GMC investigations and specialist registration requirements were pretextual for race discrimination

EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS Claimant: Dr C Agbo Respondent: North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust Heard at: Watford Employment Tribunal On: 11 November to 17 November 2025 (5 days), and 12 to 14 January 2026 (3 days) and 10 to 11 February 2026 and 19 to 20 March 2026 (for deliberations) Before: Employment Judge French Mr R Allan Ms S Laurence-Doig Appearances For the claimant: Mr R Wilson, KC For the respondent: Ms N Motraghi, KC RESERVED JUDGMENT The judgment of the Tribunal is as follows: 1. By concession, the complaint of unfair dismissal succeeds. If the parties are unable to agree remedy, there shall be a separate remedy hearing listed as outlined below. 2. The complaint of direct race discrimination is not well-founded and is dismissed. REASONS Introduction 1. This is a claim for unfair dismissal and race discrimination bought by way of claim form dated 1 December 2023. 2. The matter had originally been listed for 8 days but due to availability of the Judge was reduced to 5 days and took place by CVP on 11 to 17 November 2025. It was not possible to conclude the case on that occasion and the case was adjourned for a further 3 days namely 12 to 14 January 2026. 3. It was anticipated that on that occasion the Tribunal would hear the remainder of Dr Gardner’s evidence and have time to deliberate and give oral Judgment. 4. However, owing to an issue that arose in relation to disclosure, which is not repeated for the purposes of this Judgment, this was not possible. As such the panel re-convened without the parties on 10 and 11 February 2026 to deliberate. It was not possible to conclude our deliberations on that occasion and the panel therefore re-convened on 19 and 20 March 2026. 5. This Judgment follows as soon as possible thereafter. Evidence 6. The Tribunal had a main hearing bundle which by the end of the…