Mr J Taylor First v The Governing Body of Boston Spa Academy. Second Respondent : The Gorse Academies Trust — 2020

This was a reserved judgment on the respondents’ application for costs, not a decision on the merits of the underlying claim. The claimant had presented a claim on 17 July 2020, described in the judgment as a post-employment victimisation claim. After the respondents’ response and the disclosure of Academy Transfer documents on 17 November 2020, the claimant sought counsel’s advice and withdrew the claim at 6:54 am on 3 December 2020, the day fixed for the first preliminary hearing.

The respondents sought costs of £82,543.22 and argued that the claim had no reasonable prospects of success because neither respondent had ever employed the claimant and, in any event, the claim was hopeless on the merits. The tribunal reviewed the authorities relied on, including rule 76, Doyle, Haydar, Yerraklava and Gee, and considered the position that the claimant and his trade union had initially thought there was a reasonable basis for a post-termination victimisation claim and had not appreciated the significance of the school’s change of status from Boston Spa School to Boston Spa Academy.

The tribunal found that the claim was not entirely hopeless and was not without reasonable prospects of success. It accepted that, once the response and transfer documentation had been received, it was not unreasonable for the claimant and his adviser to seek counsel’s opinion and then withdraw the claim before the first case management hearing. The tribunal also held that the period between receiving the documents on 17 November 2020 and withdrawal on 3 December 2020 was not unreasonable, and it did not accept that the claimant had acted unreasonably in bringing or conducting the proceedings.

Because the threshold for a costs order was not met, the tribunal refused the application. It said that the respondents’ claimed costs were wholly out of proportion to the limited progress of the case and that, even if the threshold had been reached, any award would have been only a very small fraction of the sum claimed.