Mr B Barnett Respondent (1): The Sheffield College of Further Education Respondent (2): Sparks Teaching Services Limited v Mr S Robinson, Solicitor — 2025

The judgment records that Mr Barnett brought claims of indirect disability discrimination and victimisation and that a reserved judgment promulgated on 2 September 2025 dismissed those claims. The reasons supplied in this document do not set out the merits analysis for that dismissal; they explain why the respondent's application to strike out the claim under rule 38(1)(b) of the Employment Tribunals Rules 2024 was rejected.

The strike-out application arose from incidents at a College event on 25 June 2025. The tribunal found that the allegation that Mr Barnett made a hand gesture towards Mr Taff was not proved: Mr Taff did not give live evidence, the claimant gave a first-hand account, and the video footage did not show Mr Barnett at the relevant time. The tribunal therefore found that C did not act as alleged. It also held that any conduct by Ms Mackenzie-Wintle was not conduct by C, because she was a witness rather than his representative, agent or proxy, and there was no evidence that he had put her up to act as alleged.

Applying rule 38(1)(b), the Harvey staged approach, Force One Utilities Ltd v Hatfield, Hargreaves v Evolve Housing, and Blockbuster Entertainment Ltd v James, the tribunal held that strike out would in any event have been disproportionate. It considered that the case had already reached trial, that any concerns about witness evidence could be addressed by special measures such as a screen or video link, and that there was no basis for concluding that a fair trial was impossible. The respondent's application to strike out was therefore dismissed. No remedy was awarded in this document.