Ms L Coats v Great Marlborough Productions Ltd and 2 others — 2018

Ms L Coats, a former script editor, brought post-employment victimisation claims against Great Marlborough Productions Ltd and two senior employees. The tribunal treated the case as comprising a 'Smear Claim' and five 'BAFTA Claims'. The protected acts relied on were complaints made between 22 October 2014 and 11 November 2014, together with the commencement of the first tribunal proceedings on 30 March 2015. The tribunal also referred to the findings in the earlier 2016 case, including its conclusions about the breakdown of the working relationship.

On the Smear Claim, the claimant said Ms Fell had told colleagues that a letter hand-delivered to Ms Fell's home was 'hate mail'. The tribunal found it more likely that Ms Fell was referring to a wider course of conduct that included the delivery of the letter and later correspondence. It accepted that Ms Fell found that conduct distressing and disturbing, and held that the alleged remark did not amount to a detriment. In any event, the tribunal found that any such remark was prompted by the claimant's conduct rather than by protected acts. It also held that the Smear Claim was out of time and that there was no basis for extending time on a just and equitable basis.