Elrich Daudet, a senior computer analyst at Computacenter (UK) Ltd, was dismissed in December 2022 after sending love poems to a new female colleague who appeared in his prophetic dreams. He then took the company to an employment tribunal, claiming unfair dismissal, harassment and race discrimination, but his case was thrown out.
Dreams of a new colleague
Daudet, who believes he has had prophetic dreams since childhood, was introduced to the woman by his boss in August 2022. After a brief face-to-face meeting, he told her he had known for a year that they would cross paths and that she had been ‘haunting’ his dreams, although he did not specifically mention his prophetic abilities.
The woman later emailed another colleague saying Daudet was ‘doing her head in’. He had sent her love poems likening her scent to ‘flowers in the Garden of Eden’, which made her feel ‘uncomfortable’ and ‘panicky’, a judge noted.
Dismissal and tribunal
An internal disciplinary inquiry found Daudet guilty of gross misconduct and sacked him. In 2024, a five-day employment tribunal hearing rejected his claim, ruling that his belief in his own powers of premonition was too specific to his life to count as a ‘protected belief’ under equality laws.
Daudet appealed to the Employment Appeal Tribunal, where his solicitor, Chinonso Ijezie, argued that his belief was not narrowly about his own powers but that dreams are generally capable of predicting the future. He also claimed the earlier tribunal had made findings not open to it on the evidence, including that the colleague was ‘alarmed’ by the communications.
Appeal dismissed
Dismissing the appeal, Lord Fairley said: ‘The tribunal’s conclusion that the purported belief wasn’t protected discloses no error of law. On no view were any of the messages sent by the appellant manifestations of any belief held by him.’
He added there was ‘ample evidence’ of ‘distress or alarm’ caused to the woman. The messages involved ‘love poems’ that were ‘amorous in nature’, and he said: ‘That’s plainly something that’s objectively sexual. She thought he was coming on to her and that made her feel uncomfortable. It doesn’t matter whether he touches her or if it’s in an email.’
Lord Fairley refused Daudet’s appeal application, upholding his dismissal.
