Cafe Worker Wins Discrimination Case After Dismissal for Race and Religion

A cafe employee, dismissed from her long-standing position via WhatsApp, partly due to her identity as a Muslim woman of Pakistani heritage, has recounted her decision to pursue legal action “for her children.” Ayshea Malik, 35, initiated proceedings against Przemyslaw Paliga and Zbigniew Szary, the owners of Food 4 Thought Café in Warrington, Cheshire, at an employment tribunal following her termination in April 2023. Ms. Malik had been employed at the Great Sankey cafe since 2013, prior to its acquisition by the new owners in February 2023. The tribunal concluded that Ms. Malik’s dismissal was unfair and constituted discrimination based on her race and religion. Ms. Malik, who represented herself at the tribunal without legal counsel, described the moment she learned of her victory as “emotional.” She informed the BBC, “I just felt like I needed to do it for my children because I don’t want them to be in this situation and think ‘oh no, I can’t do nothing about this’.” She added, “You can do it, and I’ve showed them you can do it and you can win.” During the tribunal, convened at Liverpool’s Civil Justice Centre, it was revealed that Ms. Malik had inquired about receiving a small amount of money that her new employers had incorrectly withheld from her wages due to a tax misunderstanding, a problem that impacted multiple cafe employees. She stated: “A couple of days later, they took me off the rota and I was like ‘what’s going on?'” She continued, “I’ve never not worked there, the whole nine years, I’ve been in every single week.” She concluded, “So it was really strange, and I just started panicking and worrying, like it just came over me straight away.” Upon Ms. Malik’s inquiry regarding her absence from the work schedule, she received a message via the work WhatsApp group from Mr. Paliga, which referenced her “resignation,” according to tribunal testimony. When she denied resigning, she was informed that written reasons for her termination would be provided, but these never materialized. She commented: “It was horrible, it was so scary because I just didn’t know what I was going to do.” She added, “My heart just sank, it was really horrible.” She concluded, “I didn’t know what to think – I didn’t know what to do.” Subsequently, Ms. Malik shared her experience with an employee at her local Citizen’s Advice Bureau, who remarked “this is so bad” and assisted her in initiating legal action. In a written judgment, employment judge Jane Aspinall observed: “She is a single mother of two and was trying to provide for a family.” The judge further noted, “She was immediately afraid as to how she would pay her bills, how she would cope without a job.” Judge Aspinall concluded, “She experienced feelings of anxiety and felt overwhelmed by fear about how she could manage.” Ms. Malik’s distress intensified when she realized that another employee who had raised a complaint, a white British woman, had not been dismissed. She stated, “I just had a feeling, because I was the only person of colour there.” She further expressed, “I don’t really know the words to express it, but it feels really like it affects me now still.” In court, Mr. Paliga and Mr. Szary contended that they suspected Ms. Malik of theft; however, Judge Aspinall determined this to be a “fabrication,” given that the accusation had not been made to anyone else, including Ms. Malik, prior to the tribunal hearing. The judge also highlighted that the two respondents had presented no defense against the assertion that they had treated Ms. Malik unfavorably based on her race or religion. An additional hearing is scheduled to ascertain the compensation owed to Ms. Malik. Food 4 Thought did not provide a response when asked for comment.