Mr Samuel Weed v Cathays and Central Youth Community Project and 2 others — 2024

The respondents applied to strike out the claimant's proceedings on the basis that his conduct had been scandalous, unreasonable or vexatious, and/or that it was no longer possible to have a fair hearing. The application was heard by Employment Judge S Jenkins in Cardiff on 5 July 2024 and concerned the claimant's repeated allegations about a telephone call with the respondents' solicitor, Mr Damian Phillips, following a conversation on 21 November 2023 and comments said to have been made at a preliminary hearing before Employment Judge Harfield on 1 December 2023.

The tribunal found, on the balance of probabilities, that the telephone call had taken place and that Mr Phillips' account of the call was supported by his call log and a contemporaneous file note. It accepted that the claimant had effectively accused Mr Phillips of lying about the content of that discussion, and that he repeated similar assertions in later emails. The judge held that this conduct was scandalous and unreasonable in the ordinary sense, and that the allegation was abusive of the other side's representative and irrelevant to the merits of the underlying claims. The judge did not find that the claimant was acting vexatiously or vindictively, noting his visual processing disorder and concluding that he appeared to have become inappropriately focused on perceived wrongdoing.

Applying Rule 37 and the authorities cited, including Bennett, ET Marler, Dyer, De Keyser, Bolch and James, the tribunal then considered whether a fair hearing remained possible. It held that the final tribunal would still be able to assess the claimant's evidence on the underlying workplace allegations, weigh any reliability issues, and reach reasoned findings. The judge also rejected the submission that the claimant's complaints about earlier judicial decisions meant that a fair hearing could not be held. The application to strike out was therefore refused and the substantive claim was allowed to proceed.