In person, assisted by his mother Mrs G Lenehan For the v Respondent — 2023

At the preliminary hearing on 25 March 2024, the tribunal accepted that Mr Duque was a disabled person by reason of Autism Spectrum Disorder at all material times. The only claim before it was a claim under section 15 Equality Act 2010, based on dismissal, rejection of the appeal, and the respondent’s decision that he was dishonest.

The background facts were largely undisputed. Mr Duque started work for JD Wetherspoon plc as a Bar Associate on 13 May 2022. He had an unspent criminal conviction from March 2022 which he did not disclose when he was employed. The respondent had disciplinary rules treating failure to disclose unspent convictions and dishonesty as gross misconduct. When the respondent discovered the conviction, it commenced disciplinary proceedings, dismissed him on 8 August 2022, and rejected his appeal.

The tribunal found that the core issue was whether the claimant’s failure to disclose the conviction, and the later dishonesty, arose in consequence of his disability. It held that the claimant had chosen not to disclose the conviction because he feared not getting the job, and that there was no evidence that those decisions were caused by autism. Although the claimant’s Disability Impact Statement suggested a possible link between his condition and the nondisclosure, the tribunal considered that link highly improbable and unsupported by medical evidence.

The tribunal did not strike out the claim. It said it could not conclude that the claim had no reasonable prospect of success because the suggested causal link still required evidence, but it found that the claim had little reasonable prospect of success. It therefore made a deposit order of £100, taking account of the claimant’s limited means. If the deposit is paid, the matter was to return for further case management to clarify any justification defence and to list the full hearing.