Mr P Mundy Castle v Overton Grange School — 2025

The tribunal first dealt with preliminary matters. It refused the claimant's attempt to reinstate allegations that were subject to an unpaid deposit order, holding that there was no basis to overlook Rule 40(4) of the Employment Tribunal Procedure Rules 2024. It also refused his late application to amend the claim to add indirect race discrimination, finding that the proposed amendment was vague, unsupported by particulars, and would have caused significant delay to the final hearing.

On the merits, the claimant, who is Black African, applied for the respondent's Headteacher post in autumn 2023. The tribunal accepted that the shortlisting papers were anonymised and that the diversity monitoring forms did not go to the other panel members. It accepted Mr Doubell's evidence that he did not study the diversity information in detail, and found that Mr Doubell, Ms Cook, Mr Cadle and Mr Sankaran made the shortlisting decision without knowing the claimant's race. Mr Jones knew the claimant was Black by the time of the shortlisting meeting, but he did not take part in the decision making.

The tribunal accepted the panel's evidence that the claimant's application was weaker than the successful candidates' because it was muddled, lacked detail, and did not explain how the criteria were met. The claimant was not shortlisted and did not reach interview. Mr McNabb, who is white, did attend interview and was appointed. The tribunal also noted that another shortlisted candidate described themselves as Black African. It held that the claimant had not established facts from which race discrimination could be inferred, so the burden of proof did not shift under s136 Equality Act 2010, and the complaints of less favourable treatment because of race were dismissed. No remedy was awarded.