Mr J McMillan, in person For the v Respondent — 2024

This was a preliminary hearing before Employment Judge J Bax sitting alone at Bristol on 6 September 2024. The Claimant, who had been offered a teaching post by the Respondent that was subsequently withdrawn on 30 November 2023, sought to amend his claim to add a single allegation of direct race discrimination by association, relying on the Vietnamese nationality of his wife and children. The Respondent applied to strike out both the breach of contract claim and the discrimination claim, or alternatively for deposit orders, on the basis that they had no or little reasonable prospects of success.

The Judge granted the application to amend. On strike-out, the Judge held that the breach of contract claim turned on significant factual disputes about whether a verbal unconditional contract had been formed and whether the conditions in the written offer (DBS clearance, satisfactory references, good-conduct checks) had been met; those disputes required oral evidence and the claim could not be said to have no or little reasonable prospects of success. The strike-out application in respect of the discrimination claim was also dismissed.

However, the Judge concluded that the race discrimination by association claim had little reasonable prospect of success, finding that at best there was little more than an apparent bare difference in treatment and that the documentation tended to suggest the withdrawal of the offer was caused by concerns about the Claimant's previous conviction and the documentation he had (or had not) provided. A deposit order of £500 was made as a condition of continuing to advance those allegations, the Judge having had regard to the Claimant's stated ability to pay up to £1,000.