• Elrich Daudet was fired for gross misconduct in 2022 by Computacenter
• See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source

An IT worker claiming to be psychic has lost his compensation bid for being fired after telling a female colleague about already seeing her in his dreams.

Elrich Daudet - who believes he has the 'gift' of prophetic dreams which foretell the future - claimed the woman appeared to him months before they met, having come to act as a muse for his poetry and songwriting.

The woman subsequently sent an email to another colleague, complaining that Mr Daudet's declarations were 'doing her head in'.

He was sacked for 'gross misconduct' after sending her 'love poems,' likening the subject's scent to 'flowers in the Garden of Eden'.

A judge said the comments made the woman feel 'uncomfortable' and 'panicky'.

Claiming compensation, Mr Daudet alleged his bosses at Computacenter (UK) Ltd - an IT services company and FTSE100 constituent - discriminated against him because of his 'protected belief' in the prophetic nature of dreams.

But the UK's top employment judge Lord Fairley has now thrown out his bid, saying: '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.'

Elrich Daudet (pictured centre, outside an Employment Tribunal Appeal in Croydon, south London) has lost his bid for compensation after being fired by Compucenter (UK) Ltd

Rejecting Mr Daudet's appeal challenge to an earlier ruling by an employment tribunal, the judge said there was no legal error in the conclusion that Mr Daudet's belief in the power of his dreams was not a 'protected belief' under equality laws.

The messages he sent were also not a 'manifestation' of his beliefs, because he did not need to disclose them.

The judge said they could legitimately be considered 'harassment' of the woman, named at an earlier hearing as Vanessa De Souza.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal was told Mr Daudet worked as a senior computer analyst at the firm - which provides IT equipment and services to businesses and public authorities - from 2008 until his dismissal in 2022.

Mr Daudet believes in the power of dreams to foretell the future and says he has had prophetic dreams since he was a child, the judge recorded.

Some of his dreams are warnings, which he felt obliged to pass on to anyone in danger, while others are 'social' which he does not necessarily tell anyone about, according to the ruling.

Mr Daudet's sacking came after he was introduced in August 2022 by his boss to the woman, a relatively new starter who he had never met before.

After a face to face meet lasting just minutes, Mr Daudet said he soon realised the colleague was the same woman appearing in his dreams months earlier.

A message exchange between Elrich Daudet and Vanessa De Souza was shared in the case

He then wrote her a message, telling her that he had known for a year that they would cross paths and that she was 'haunting' his dreams, although not specifically mentioning his prophetic dream.

Another message followed in which he told the colleague that she was the woman he had been dreaming of and included some of his poetry, including lines likening the subject of the poem's scent to flowers in the Garden of Eden.

But the messages resulted in him facing an internal disciplinary inquiry for harassment, which ended up with him being sacked for 'gross misconduct' in December 2022.

He sued, claiming damages for unfair dismissal, harassment and discrimination on the basis of his race as a black man and of his 'protected belief' in the God-given power of his dreams.

After a five-day hearing in 2024, his case was rejected by an employment tribunal judge, who concluded that there was nothing unfair about his dismissal.

His belief was not a 'protected' one because it was too specific to his own life in that it was a belief about his own powers of premonition, the tribunal found.

He took his case last week to the Employment Appeal Tribunal, where his lawyers argued that the lower tribunal got it wrong in dismissing his compensation bid.

Mr Daudet's solicitor Chinonso Ijezie argued that the tribunal had gone wrong in its reasoning because his belief was not merely a narrowly held one about his own powers.

Bosses at Computacenter thought Elrich Daudet's messages 'seemed sexual, obsessive'

Elrich Daudet (centre) believes he has the 'gift' of prophetic dreams which foretell the future, his tribunal case heard

It was described instead as a belief that dreams are generally capable of predicting the future and should be considered 'protected' under equality laws, Mr Ijezie said.

The lower tribunal had also made findings of fact that were not open to them on the evidence, including that the colleague was 'alarmed' by the communications, he argued.

But giving judgment and throwing out his claims, 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.'

The ruling also found there was 'ample evidence' of 'distress or alarm' caused to the woman by his communications.

The messages had effectively involved 'love poems', which were 'amorous in nature,' Lord Fairley said, adding: '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.'

He refused Mr Daudet's appeal application, upholding the dismissal of his claims.