In person v Respondent — 2023

The tribunal heard a preliminary-hearing application across three linked claims and applied the strike-out and deposit-order rules, the Equality Act burden-of-proof provisions in section 136, the cases of Efobi and Madarassy, and the amendment test in Chaudhry and Selkent. It also considered section 120(3) Equality Act 2010 on conduct extending over a period and section 108(1) ERA 1996 on qualifying service for unfair dismissal.

Complaints 1 and 2 concerned alleged refusals by Mr Daley in October 2021 and on 5 May 2022 to allow the claimant to use a printer. The tribunal did not strike those complaints out and did not make deposit orders against them. It held that complaint 1 could potentially be treated as conduct extending over a period under section 120(3), and it allowed amendments so that religion or belief could be relied on in addition to race and sex.

Complaint 3 concerned the grievance and appeal about those incidents. The tribunal found those allegations had little reasonable prospect of success and ordered deposits of £100 for each of the grievance and appeal allegations. Complaint 4 concerned the dismissal. The unfair dismissal complaint was struck out because the claimant did not have two years' continuous service. The dismissal victimisation allegation, and the amended direct discrimination allegation based on race, sex and religion or belief, were allowed to proceed only subject to £100 deposit orders each because the tribunal considered them to have little reasonable prospect of success.

Complaints 5 to 8, covering delay to the probation review, non-promotion, 'gaslighting', and micro-aggressions by other staff, were not part of the original claim forms and required amendment. The tribunal refused those amendments, finding that the hardship to the respondent would outweigh the hardship to the claimant and that the proposed allegations also appeared to have little reasonable prospect of success. It accepted the claimant's evidence about her means, including Universal Credit, about £1,500 savings, no dependants and rent arrears, and fixed the total deposits at £400, made up of four £100 deposits.