Sacked security guard who drove without valid licence and accused Wolverhampton university of racism faces £20,000 legal bill

Claudia Daley made more than 20 allegations against bosses at the university after she was sacked for driving without a valid licence and misleading staff about her driving qualifications.

But employment tribunal judges in Birmingham dismissed her claims for wrongful dismissal and race discrimination, branding her evidence as ‘inconsistent’, ‘contradictory, and ‘unbelievable’.

The university’s lawyer told the hearing it intended to seek £20,000 in costs against Ms Daley – accusing her of using ‘false’ witness statements, describing it as an ‘extreme case’. Ms Daley had worked as a university security guard from November 2, 2014 before being sacked on May 13 last year for gross misconduct.

In the autumn of 2015 the university restructured its security services team which required staff to drive between sites using a pool car. Initially Ms Daley, of Wheeler Street, Birmingham, believed she was entitled to drive using her Jamaican licence.

Her boss, university operations manager Sandy Shaw, requested proof but she repeatedly failed to produce a valid licence, claiming it was in storage, she was too unwell to locate it, and that she needed her husband’s help to find it but he was in the Caribbean at the time.

On one occasion she claimed she couldn’t produce her licence because it had been ‘suspended’ because of an eye injury, it was alleged.

On September 22, 2015, Mr Shaw telephoned the DVLA, with Ms Daley present, and officials confirmed her Jamaican licence at that time only allowed her the rights of a UK provisional licence holder, as she had been living in the country for more than 12 months and needed to take a test. She had lived in the UK since 2005. She was not entitled to drive. Despite this she claimed police at Steelhouse Lane police station in Birmingham had told her she was fine to drive.

“The claimant (Miss Daley) by September 22 could be in no doubt she should not be driving unaccompanied,” said tribunal judge Miss Mary Cocks. But on January 2 last year three colleagues saw her driving on her own, the tribunal was told.

Later she said she had passed two UK driving tests. The first in Coventry on January 7 last year and in Wolverhampton 13 days later on January 20.

But the tribunal heard the first ‘test’ in Coventry was in fact an intense driving course and the DVLA would not allow someone to sit a second test if they already had a licence. The passed test in Wolverhampton was proved to be valid.

Disciplinary proceedings were started against her by the university.

She was dismissed without notice on May 13 last year for misleading the university about her licence and for breaching health and safety procedures by driving whilst not qualified. She made 23 allegations of racial discrimination, harassment, and victimisation against the university and claimed she had been wrongfully dismissed and was owed holiday pay.

Rejecting all the claims, Miss Cocks said: “The claimants’ evidence has been inconsistent, contradictory, and on occasions unbelievable. She says what she thinks needs to be said rather than if it is correct or consistent.” She added that entries in a diary used as evidence by Ms Daley were written to ‘match’ allegations she made on forms to the tribunal and were not ‘contemporaneous’.

The university has asked Ms Daley to pay £20,000 in legal costs, accusing her of ‘scandalous conduct’ and creating alleged ‘false’ witness statements. Tribunal judges will make a costs decision at a separate hearing at a later date.