In person For the v Ms Y Chong, solicitor — 2023

At the preliminary hearing on 22 December 2023, Employment Judge Elliott considered the respondent's application to strike out parts of the claim. The claimant's employment was found to have run from 5 September 2022 to 2 March 2023, and the claimant accepted that he did not have two years' qualifying service. On that basis, the unfair dismissal claim was struck out under section 108 of the Employment Rights Act 1996.

The age discrimination claim was also struck out under Rule 37. The tribunal found that the claimant had not set out any factual basis for an age discrimination complaint in the ET1, particulars of claim, correspondence, or oral submissions, and that the claim amounted to no more than the speculative ticking of a box.

The race discrimination claim was not struck out. The tribunal held that there was a live dispute of fact about the reason for dismissal, with the respondent saying the dismissal was for poor performance and the claimant saying it was racially motivated. The tribunal noted the claimant's case that he had recently passed probation, and that the performance figures relied on by the respondent were disputed, so the claim had sufficient prospect of success to proceed to a full merits hearing. The tribunal also declined to make a deposit order, and there was no remedy award because no claim was determined on the merits.