Mr K Barette v Asda Stores Limited — 2020

The preliminary hearing determined whether the claims should be struck out and whether a deposit order should be made. The tribunal recorded four disability discrimination claims: direct discrimination, discrimination arising from disability, failure to make reasonable adjustments, and victimisation. It found that all claims were out of time, with the first three arising from events in July to September 2018 and the victimisation allegation arising around February 2019.

The claimant argued that the matters formed a continuing act and that it would be just and equitable to extend time. The respondent argued that the claims had no reasonable prospect of success, both on substance and on limitation. The tribunal refused strike-out because it could not categorise the proceedings as having no reasonable prospect of success and considered there were some prospects on both substance and extension of time.

The tribunal nevertheless found that the claims had little reasonable prospect of success. It considered there would be considerable difficulty in linking the victimisation claim with the earlier claims, that the first three claims were unlikely to be treated as linked, and that the pleaded substance of the disability discrimination complaints appeared weak. A deposit order of £1,000 was made as a condition of the claimant continuing with the claims.