Ms B Tomkins v United Services & Services Rendered Club (Tooting and Balham) Limited — 2023

At a preliminary hearing in London South on 1 March 2023 before Employment Judge Cheetham KC, the tribunal considered the respondent's application to strike out, or alternatively seek a deposit order in relation to, the claimant's discrimination claims. Ms Tomkins had been employed as Bar Manager from 1 January 2004 until 12 November 2021. The pleaded complaints included whistleblowing detriment, unfair and wrongful dismissal, disability discrimination, indirect discrimination, failure to make adjustments, victimisation and harassment, but the application heard that day was directed to the discrimination allegations.

The tribunal recorded that Ms Tomkins had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in May 2019, which was a deemed disability. There was a dispute about when the respondent knew of that disability. The respondent said the claimant was clinically extremely vulnerable during the pandemic and argued that any request for adjustments to enable her to remain at work was unreasonable because government guidance advised shielding at home. It relied on the claimant's treatment history, while the claimant disputed the chronology and said she had completed treatment before lockdown.

The claimant said the respondent never required her to stay at home, that she wanted to work, and that she had asked for lighter duties and shorter hours. The tribunal held that there was too much factual dispute to resolve the matter at a strike-out hearing, that the guidance was not binding rules, and that it could not conclude that any request for adjustments was wholly unreasonable. It also said the section 15 complaints were not confined to attendance at the workplace, referring by way of example to the refusal to hear a grievance. The respondent's application was dismissed and the case remained listed for 11 days.