Written Submissions For the v Respondent — 2021

This was a preliminary hearing in Birmingham on 21 March 2022 before Employment Judge Gaskell. The claimant had been employed by Tesco Stores Limited from 16 October 2004 until his dismissal on 2 February 2019. The hearing concerned the claimant's later applications to amend the claim and the respondent's application for strike out. The tribunal also dealt with the claimant's objection to the respondent's bundle, and held that the bundle could be received and used because the claimant had refused to cooperate in agreeing one.

Applying Harvey v Port of Tilbury and the Selkent principles, the tribunal refused permission to amend the claim to add automatic unfair dismissal and victimisation. It held that the proposed automatic unfair dismissal amendment was not supported by the pleaded case and that the original unfair dismissal claim had already been withdrawn and dismissed. It found the victimisation application late, confused, and lacking a specified protected act; the tribunal also noted that the allegations were framed in substance as further race discrimination complaints about CCTV disclosure.

The tribunal then struck out the claims under Rule 37(1)(b), (c) and (e) of the Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure 2013. It found that the claimant's conduct towards the tribunal and the respondent's solicitor was scandalous, unreasonable and vexatious, that he had deliberately refused to comply with case management orders, and that a fair hearing was no longer possible. The hearings listed for September and October 2022 were cancelled.