Mr M Kumi v Edwardian Pastoria Hotels Ltd PRELIMINARY HEARING — 2024

The claimant was employed by the respondent for five days in July 2023 and brought complaints of automatically unfair dismissal for making a protected disclosure, detriment for making a protected disclosure, direct race discrimination, harassment related to race, and disability discrimination (an unlawful deduction of wages complaint had earlier been withdrawn and dismissed). At a preliminary hearing on 21 November 2024 before Employment Judge Baty, the tribunal struck out the claim on the grounds that it was vexatious and scandalous and that the manner in which the claimant had conducted the proceedings was vexatious, scandalous and unreasonable.

The tribunal found that the claimant had made covert recordings during his short employment with a view to building a tribunal claim, had failed to comply with disclosure orders made at earlier preliminary hearings about producing the full unedited recordings, and had pursued the litigation in a manner the judge described as a pre-planned and cynical attempt to entrap fellow employees in order to extract a financial settlement. The judge also referred to a pattern of similar previous tribunal claims by the claimant.

The tribunal granted the respondent's costs application in full, ordering the claimant to pay £20,000 in costs. The judge declined to accept the claimant's evidence about his financial means and, in any event, considered that, given the seriousness of the conduct, it was just to award the full amount sought without taking means into account.