Court usher loses race discrimination claim after being sacked for falling asleep on the job

An employment tribunal has dismissed a race discrimination claim by a court usher who was fired after falling asleep during proceedings at London magistrates courts.

Adetokunbo Adegbite, who worked at Barkingside and Thames magistrates courts in east London, had her complaint against the Ministry of Justice rejected by the East London employment tribunal.

The tribunal heard that Adegbite’s dismissal followed several performance issues, including an incident where she left a courtroom unattended, leading to a security breach when a member of the public entered and violently threw a holy book on the floor.

The tribunal heard that Adegbite had fallen asleep during court proceedings, though she was responsible for managing courtrooms and directing people in the building.

A serious incident occurred in April 2022 at Thames Magistrates Court when she left a courtroom unattended.

During this security breach, a member of the public entered the empty courtroom and violently threw a holy book, which is kept for religious witnesses and defendants to take the oath.

Following the incident, Adegbite was warned that her assignment could be terminated if similar events occurred again.

The tribunal was told she also habitually arrived late for work and struggled with morning training sessions.

Adegbite claimed three colleagues repeatedly hid her courtroom keys, mobile panic alarm and clipboard, preventing her from performing her duties.

She told the tribunal: “They had always wanted me to be dismissed and I don’t know why, from hiding the courtroom key, hiding the court alarm, hiding my clipboard, making statements that I will be dismissed.”

According to her testimony, these incidents occurred two to three times per week over an 11-month period in 2022.

However, the tribunal rejected these allegations of workplace harassment by her colleagues.

By December 2022, Ms Adegbite’s employment was terminated after she arrived late due to a flat tyre, and found her name was no longer on the rota.

The tribunal noted there had been “a history of performance concerns” with the usher.

In its written decision, the panel stated: “Ms Adegbite had been tried out in various roles and had not impressed in any of them.”

The tribunal firmly rejected any suggestion of racial discrimination, concluding: “There is no evidence whatsoever that her manager was in any way influenced in his decision by her race.”