Mr C Mallon v Rise Technical Recruitment Ltd — 2022

Mr Mallon brought a disability discrimination claim against Rise Technical Recruitment Ltd arising from the respondent's practice of shortlisting candidates from CVs and only telephoning shortlisted candidates. He said his disability, identified in the judgment as dyspraxia/autism, meant he needed an adjustment: an oral application by telephone so that he could explain his experience and the relevant criteria verbally rather than relying on written material.

At this open preliminary hearing the tribunal applied rule 37(1)(a) and the approach in Ezsias and Anyanwu. It did not strike out the claim. Taking the claimant's case at its highest, and accepting for this purpose that he was disabled and that his disability affected written communication, the tribunal held it could not say the claim had no reasonable prospects of success because a CV-only application process might place him at a substantial disadvantage within section 20(3) Equality Act 2010.

The tribunal nevertheless made a deposit order under rule 39. It found that, although Mr Mallon may be suitable for some of the many roles he applied for, he had not identified a specific role where an oral application was said to have made a likely difference. In those circumstances the tribunal concluded there were little reasonable prospects of success and ordered him to pay a deposit of £100, taking account of his means.

The tribunal also noted that the claimant had brought many claims and that some had been unsuccessful, but it did not find on the evidence before it that he was a vexatious litigant. The judgment expressly left the merits of the reasonable adjustments claim to be decided at a final hearing if the claimant chose to proceed.