Ms. C. Stone v Crest Nicholson Operations Limited — 2025

This was a public preliminary hearing before Employment Judge Wedderspoon on 22 April 2025 to consider the respondent's applications for strike-out (rule 38) or deposit orders (rule 40) against the claimant's complaints of sex/sexual orientation discrimination and public interest disclosure detriment and dismissal. The claimant, formerly a site assistant manager employed from 10 January 2022 until 26 October 2023, brought claims following her selection for redundancy. The tribunal clarified the list of issues with reference to Employment Judge Flood's earlier case management order.

The tribunal refused to strike out or impose a deposit order on the sex/sexual orientation discrimination complaint, holding that the claim concerned a factual dispute about whether comparators Liam and Greg had been offered a fully funded NVQ level 6 qualification that the claimant was not, and that discrimination claims are fact-sensitive and require evidence to be heard and tested (applying Cox v Adecco). On the five alleged public interest disclosures, the tribunal found they could not be summarily dismissed as non-qualifying without evidence, but that allegations 4.1.1.2 and 4.1.1.5 (both made on 17 October 2023) could have no causative link to the alleged detriments occurring between 8 and 22 September 2023, and so were struck out in respect of the detriment claim only, remaining live for the automatic unfair dismissal claim.

Allegation 4.1.1.4, concerning a disclosure the claimant was unsure had been passed on by Kelly Joyce to those said to have imposed detriments, was found to have little reasonable prospect of success and was made subject to a deposit order of £200 per allegation (for both the detriment and automatic unfair dismissal limbs), an amount fixed having regard to the claimant's means as evidenced in her oral evidence about her income and outgoings. The tribunal then case managed the matter for a final hearing.