A civil servant sued the Ministry of Defence (MOD) for racism after being reprimanded for carrying out personal errands during his working hours. Victor Stanley-Idum, a senior executive at the MoD, accused his manager of holding a stereotypical view of “black Africans being lazy” after he was given an official warning for his “casual attitude to working hours”.

This included going to buy a vacuum cleaner and taking an Uber to the airport during work hours, and failing to attend team-building activities. Sharon Docherty, his manager, gave Mr Stanley-Idum an informal warning in October 2021 for repeated absences during the working day without giving advance warning, reported The Telegraph. Most of the incidents took place in autumn 2021 when the majority of his team were working remotely following the pandemic, which led to him being placed on a strict timetable, requiring him to document his objectives and achievements each day.

As a result of this and strict direction regarding what hours he was required to work, Mr Stanley-Idum launched a grievance, claiming that the move was underpinned by “a racial stereotype of laziness and dishonesty”.

He subsequently sued the MoD for race and disability discrimination, race harassment and victimisation. He initially brought the claim against five people but ultimately pursued just the MoD.

None of his claims were upheld by the tribunal, with many of his claims submitted too late.

Employment Judge Tim Adkin said: “He was working remotely, as indeed were most of his colleagues. There were a series of concerns raised about his output and it was difficult to monitor what [he] was working on.

“There is evidence that he was taking time during the working day to do things that were unrelated to work.

“We have not formed the impression based on all the evidence in this case that Mrs Docherty held a stereotypical view of black Africans being lazy or dishonest nor indeed that that was a widely held stereotype.”

Mr Stanley-Idum attempted to justify his continued absences, blaming “broadband issues” for his prolonged periods offline.

The tribunal also found his claims that he worked from a laptop and work phone while he took an Uber to the airport to pick up family as “unconvincing”.

He also missed an invite to a meeting in September 2022 as “he had taken a break and run to the store to buy a new Hoover,” the tribunal heard.

Mr Stanley-Idum also failed to attend a team building day at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, despite saying he would do so. He opted to join the event virtually, but bosses logged that he arrived late and left early.