Mrs Tanya Merrill v Ian Hyman & Co. Limited — 2022

The claimant, Mrs Tanya Merrill, brought a disability discrimination claim against Ian Hyman & Co. Limited. In the claim form she alleged that she had injured her shoulder while working at home as a typist and that the respondent was to blame because it had not provided the correct equipment or carried out an assessment of her needs.

The claim initially lacked detail as to when she became disabled, when the respondent became aware of any disability, and what discriminatory acts were said to have occurred after that point. After the respondent sought further information, and a preliminary hearing before Employment Judge Sutton QC, the claimant was ordered to clarify the impairment, the date she became disabled, and the acts of discrimination said to have been suffered, including who was responsible and when. She did not provide that required clarification by the deadline, and the only later communication referred to compensation for stress, pain and injury to feelings.

At the final hearing on 11 May 2022, the claimant did not attend. The Tribunal noted that notice had been sent to her email address, which she had identified as her preferred method of communication, and accepted the respondent's submission that she had not provided the necessary information. The Tribunal held that the material provided amounted to an allegation of personal injury but did not identify any subsequent act of discrimination, so the disability discrimination complaint had no reasonable prospect of success. The claim was therefore struck out for non-compliance with directions and because it had no reasonable prospect of success. The judgment states that this order was not intended to prevent the claimant pursuing a civil personal injury claim, which appeared to be the appropriate forum.