Two Tesco employees from Northampton were indirectly discriminated against because of restricted access to prayer facilities at their depot, a tribunal has ruled.
Abdirisak Aden and Mahamed Hasan, both aged 27, were among a number of devout Muslim employees who had lobbied since 2006 for a room to pray in at set times each day at Tesco’s Crick distribution depot in Northamptonshire.
They were granted the use of a security room in 2008, but in 2012 they were set restrictions including that they must tell managers when they were going to pray and must ask for a key for the room.
The Bedford Employment Tribunal found Tesco had committed indirect discrimination and awarded the men an undisclosed sum for injury to their feelings.
The judgement also found that Tesco unlawfully harassed the men through the introduction of prayer time guidelines and the fact Mr Aden and Mr Hasan were asked to sign them.
It also found that the fact Mr Hasan was told the guidelines would be implemented “whether he liked it or not” was also harrassment.
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