Kamoru Adeleke v Mitie Limited — 2022

The claimant brought a claim for unfair dismissal after being summarily dismissed from employment as a porter. The respondent applied to strike out the claim under rule 37(1)(a), arguing that it was scandalous or vexatious or had no reasonable prospect of success, and alternatively sought a deposit order under rule 39 on the basis that the claim had little reasonable prospect of success.

The tribunal refused both applications. It found that it could not conclude at the preliminary stage that the unfair dismissal claim had no reasonable prospect of success, or such limited prospects as to justify a deposit order. It also did not accept that changes in the claimant's account amounted to scandalous or vexatious conduct.

The tribunal considered that the CCTV footage was not as unequivocal as the respondent submitted and required interpretation and evidence. It noted that there were likely to be contested factual issues about the incident, the disciplinary process, the appeals, and the reasonableness of the dismissal outcome, which were unsuitable for determination on a summary application. The claim was therefore allowed to proceed to a full merits hearing.