Mrs Y Ozyalin v Leeds City Council and 1 other — 2023

At a public preliminary hearing, the tribunal considered the respondents' applications to strike out the claimant's claim for non-compliance with disclosure and witness evidence orders, and on the basis that the claim had no reasonable prospect of success. The tribunal recorded that the relevant subsisting claim was one of whistleblowing detriment.

The tribunal found that the claimant had failed to comply with orders for disclosure and had not included in her witness statement everything relevant to the issues. It accepted that the disclosure failure appeared to be a mistake, namely that the claimant had sent the documents to herself rather than to the respondents, and that her witness evidence problems arose from a misunderstanding about the need to repeat material already set out in her claim form, further particulars and at an earlier preliminary hearing.

Reading the witness statements in isolation, the tribunal described the case as presenting a hopeless case. However, reading those statements together with all documentation on the tribunal file, including the claimant's extensive further particulars, it concluded that the claimant had put forward an arguable case which could only be determined after evidence at a final hearing. The tribunal held that the case did not have no reasonable prospects of success, that a fair trial remained possible despite delay and further case management being required, and that strike out would not do justice to the parties.