Mr J Mitchell v Royal Mail Group Limited — 2023

The tribunal considered the respondent's application to strike out the claimant's complaint that his dismissal was direct discrimination because of religion or belief. The claimant said his belief was that the Covid vaccine was the mark of the beast and that people should not receive it, relying on his Church's earlier stance and passages from Revelation. Taking the claimant's case at its highest, the tribunal concluded that the belief may amount to a religious belief for Equality Act purposes, so it did not need to decide whether it was a philosophical belief under the Grainger Criteria.

The respondent said the claimant was dismissed for misconduct arising from events in November 2021, and relied on the dismissal letter, dismissal report, appeal notice, and appeal report. The claimant said the respondent's witnesses had previously mocked his beliefs and that restrictions during suspension affected his ability to defend himself.

The tribunal refused strike out because it could not conclude that the complaint had no reasonable prospects of success; evidence would be needed from the claimant and witnesses about whether the witnesses were influenced by his earlier expression of belief. However, it found the complaint had little reasonable prospects of success, noting the time gap between the expression of belief and disciplinary events, that the disciplinary process was triggered by November 2021 incidents, that only one of eight allegations appeared directly related to expression of belief, and that the claimant accepted some of the alleged conduct. A £50 deposit order was made after considering the claimant's means.