Mr G Daley v Royal Mail Group Limited — 2022

This was a preliminary strike out judgment. The claimant had brought claims arising from his summary dismissal after undelivered mail was found at his home. The tribunal recorded that remaining claims of unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal, direct sex discrimination and unauthorised deduction from wages were to proceed to a later hearing, so those claims were not determined in this judgment.

Most victimisation complaints were struck out. The tribunal found that, even taking the claimant's case at its highest, the alleged protected acts relied on did not amount to protected acts under section 27(2) Equality Act 2010. It also found that, after several attempts and preliminary hearings to clarify the victimisation case, the claims remained indecipherable and a fair hearing was no longer possible, subject to the items expressly preserved or dealt with separately.

The direct disability discrimination by association claim was struck out because the tribunal found no pleaded basis from which the dismissal could be understood as because of the claimant's association with his partner's disability. The direct disability discrimination by perception claim was struck out because the tribunal found no pleaded facts capable of showing that refusal of leave or dismissal was because the respondent perceived the claimant to be disabled.

The direct age discrimination claim was struck out. The tribunal found that the claimant's case, which concerned alleged cost differences between dismissing him and older comparators, had no reasonable prospect of success, including because the comparator circumstances were unrelated and dismissal for gross misconduct would usually involve no notice costs.