Mr H Resber v Rimad Ltd OPEN PRELIMINARY HEARING — 2019

This was an open preliminary hearing on the claimant’s application to amend his proceedings to add a harassment claim under section 26 of the Equality Act 2010. The original ET1, presented on 12 March 2019, had claimed unfair dismissal, non-payment of wages, and unpaid holiday entitlement. The later proposed amendments had also sought to add constructive unfair dismissal, victimisation, and bullying and harassment, but by the time of this hearing only harassment under section 26 was pursued.

The tribunal recorded that at the case management hearing on 4 October 2019, after the claimant’s representative had taken instructions, the claimant was said not to be proceeding with any discrimination claims and that the claims before the tribunal were unfair dismissal and non-payment of wages. The judge treated the harassment amendment as having been withdrawn at that stage. The judgment also noted that the later amendment material remained materially incomplete because it did not identify the protected characteristic relied on or set out the statutory basis of the claim in the way required for a section 26 claim.

Applying Selkent Bus Company Limited v Moore, and taking account of the time limit guidance in TGWU v Safeway Stores Limited, the tribunal refused leave to amend. It found the application was well out of time, could have been made earlier, and would expand the case beyond the narrow original claims into a wider factual case stretching back to May 2017. The tribunal also found the respondent would be prejudiced by having to meet a materially broader case after delay and after the earlier withdrawal. It concluded that it was not in the interests of justice to grant the amendment.