Mrs Linda Stenhouse v Bellamy Wallace Partnership LLP — 2024

This was a preliminary hearing in public before Employment Judge D Wright on 18 April 2024. The judgment identified a set of emails as protected by litigation privilege, without prejudice privilege and section 111A(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, and ordered that neither party may rely on that correspondence for the purposes of the proceedings.

The order expressly stated that the correspondence was not excluded for all purposes: either party may still rely on it when the question of costs is considered, and any admissibility issue can be dealt with at that stage if needed. The judgment did not determine the merits of the claimant's substantive employment claims.

The tribunal also directed that the final hearing should not take place before Employment Judge D Wright because he had seen the documents covered by the order. The written record says reasons were given orally at the hearing; no written reasons were provided unless requested within 14 days of the written decision.