Case 2202211/2020 · Employment Tribunal

Mr C Khan, counsel For the v Respondent — 2021

Case reference: 2202211/2020
Decision date: 1 April 2021
Jurisdiction: England & Wales
Judge: Employment Judge Elliott APPEARANCES

Indexed: 22 May 2026

Parties

1 named

Claimant

Mr C Khan, counsel For the

Respondent

Key findings

Tribunal's reasoning

At a preliminary hearing on 31 March 2021, Employment Judge Elliott considered two procedural issues in linked indirect race discrimination claims against The Royal Parks Ltd. The underlying claim in 2202211/2020 concerned alleged disparities in pay and contractual benefits for outsourced workers. The later claim in 2205570/2020 arose from the introduction of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the respondent's decision not to top up furlough pay to 100%.

The tribunal held that claim 2205570/2020 was not about the same matter as 2202211/2020 for the purposes of section 18A of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996. Applying the broad approach to 'matter' in Compass Group UK & Ireland Ltd v Morgan and Akhigbe v St Edwards Home Ltd, the judge found that the furlough decision was a fresh decision in March 2020, made nearly 5.5 years after the original contract-award decisions about pay and benefits, and in new circumstances. The Early Conciliation certificate used for 2205570/2020 was therefore valid and the claim was allowed to proceed.

In case 2204440/2020, which concerned Mr Castro only, the tribunal accepted that the pay-differential element was prima facie out of time under section 123 of the Equality Act 2010 because the differential ended on 12 December 2019 and the claim was presented on 22 July 2020. The judge nevertheless extended time on the just and equitable test. The delay was a little over four months, the cogency of the evidence was unlikely to be affected, the respondent did not show appreciable prejudice beyond additional complexity and cost, and the claim continued to a full merits hearing. The tribunal noted that other contractual-benefit aspects of Mr Castro's claim were in time in any event.

Claims and outcomes

2 findings recorded

Claim type	Issue or finding	Outcome	Protected characteristic	Award
Race discrimination	Preliminary hearing only. The tribunal held that case 2205570/2020 was not the same matter as 2202211/2020 for early conciliation purposes, so the EC certificate was valid and the claim could proceed to a full merits hearing.	Other	Race	—
Race discrimination	Preliminary hearing only. The tribunal held that Mr Castro's pay-differential element was prima facie out of time but it was just and equitable to extend time; the claim proceeded, with other contractual-benefit issues already within time.	Other	Race	—

Legal tests applied

13 references

Official outcome judgment PDF

Gov.uk primary record

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Published on gov.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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