In person For the v Respondent — 2022

The preliminary hearing concerned an application to strike out the claimant’s indirect religious discrimination claim. The tribunal first amended claim 2302859/2020 to add the Home Office as a respondent and dismissed the claim against Mr S Fox. It then considered whether the claimant’s indirect discrimination complaint, based on a requirement to conduct asylum interviews of converts from Islam to Christianity, had been presented in time.

The tribunal found that the last date on which the claimant was required to conduct such an interview was 11 July 2019, or alternatively 4 September 2019 when she was suspended. On either basis, the primary time limit expired on 10 October 2019 or 3 December 2019. Early Conciliation began only in May 2020 and the ET1 was presented on 1 June 2020, so the claim was 6 to 8 months out of time. The tribunal accepted that the claimant relied on mental health, but found there was no evidence of a relevant diagnosis before 2 December 2019 and that this did not explain the earlier delay.

By 27 February 2020, a Consultant Occupational Physician assessed the claimant as having only mild depression remaining and as capable of work and of engaging with management about her return. The tribunal considered there was then a further period of about three months before the claims were issued. It also took into account the prejudice to the respondent in having to defend a late indirect discrimination claim that was tangential to the main proceedings, where there was already a significant conflict of evidence about the underlying events. On that basis, the tribunal decided it was not just and equitable to extend time and struck out the indirect religious discrimination claim.