Mr K Gorringe v Ministry of Defence Heard by CVP on 31/5/2023 — 2023

Mr K Gorringe brought fresh unfair dismissal and disability discrimination claims against the Ministry of Defence in 2022, but the tribunal found they were mostly the same as claims he had already brought in 2015 and then withdrawn. The judge recorded that the recurring themes were alleged lack of computer training, shortcomings in the appeal against dismissal, and problems recovering personal items from a work locker.

A deposit order required payment of £500 by 28 January 2023. The claimant sent the cheque to the wrong address and did not pay the deposit at the correct address until 21 February 2023, after the deadline had passed. The tribunal held that the lateness was not caused by any tribunal error or by ignorance of the order, and that no medical evidence had been produced to support any incapacity affecting payment. The claims were therefore struck out under Rule 39(4).

The judge went on to say that, even if that had not happened, the claims would have been barred by estoppel/res judicata because of the earlier 2015 judgment dismissing the withdrawn claims, and any genuinely new matters would have been an abuse of process under Henderson. He also found the claims were presented more than seven years outside the normal three-month time limit, that it would not be just and equitable to extend time for the discrimination complaint, and that the claims would in any event have been struck out under Rule 37(1)(a), (b) and (e).

On costs, the respondent sought its costs and the tribunal ordered Mr Gorringe to pay £4,223. That figure was made up of the £500 deposit already paid over to the respondent and a further £3,723 payable to the respondent's solicitors by 14 June 2023.