Ms K Moreton Mr R O’Connor v Chief Constable of Warwickshire Police PRELIMINARY HEARING — 2025

Ms K Moreton and Mr R O'Connor brought unfair dismissal complaints arising from civilian intelligence roles with Warwickshire Police. They were required to hold management vetting, and all staff required at least recruitment vetting. After notices in January 2022, the respondent decided in May 2022 to permanently revoke all vetting, which meant the claimants could not be redeployed into any other role, and they were dismissed in July 2022.

At the preliminary hearing on 2 December 2024, the respondent applied to strike out the claims under rule 37(1)(a) of the Employment Tribunal Rules 2013, or alternatively for deposit orders under rule 39. The respondent's case was that the dismissals were for national security purposes and/or some other substantial reason, and it relied on authorities concerning strike out, deposit orders, the reason for dismissal, and section 10(1) of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996. The tribunal noted that the dismissing officer did not know why the vetting had been revoked; she only knew that the revocation meant the claimants could not continue in any role with the respondent.

The tribunal held that there was no bar on an employment tribunal considering the vetting process or the reasons for revocation when deciding the reason for dismissal or the fairness of dismissal. It was not possible, without hearing evidence, to conclude that the claims had no reasonable prospect of success, or that the respondent's section 10(1) national security case must succeed. The tribunal also could not determine the section 98(4) fairness issues, including the Article 6 point in the list of issues, on the papers. The strike out application and the application for deposit orders were both refused in the reserved judgment sent on 19 February 2025.