Mr J Gidney of Counsel For the v Respondent — 2018

On 14 and 15 June 2018, Employment Judge Truscott QC heard a preliminary hearing about amendment, strike out, deposit order and costs. The claimant had started work as a Registered Nurse on 21 March 2016, had been suspended on 27 February 2017, and had presented her ET1 on 17 July 2017 alleging religion or belief discrimination. In March 2018 she sought to add age, race, sex, victimisation, protected disclosure detriment and breach of contract allegations, together with further religion or belief and harassment allegations.

The tribunal permitted amendment to add direct and indirect discrimination on the ground of religion or belief and harassment related to religion or belief, finding those allegations were foreshadowed in the original ET1. It noted that the parties agreed any religion claim on or after 19 February was in time. The tribunal refused the remaining discrimination amendments, holding they were a wholesale late re-writing of the claim, substantially out of time, and not just and equitable to add. It also refused the ERA claims, holding it was reasonably practicable to raise them within time and that the ET1 should not be amended to add them. The claimant's evidence about wider family trauma was not accepted because it was unsupported by evidence.

The existing claim was not struck out and no deposit order was made, because the tribunal considered there were factual issues to be determined at a hearing. The respondent's request for costs of the 8 November 2017 preliminary hearing was refused: the tribunal found the hearing proceeded in the claimant's absence, that she had made substantial efforts to seek an adjournment, and that she would have contributed little or nothing to case management discussion; the respondent's attendance costs were recorded as £1,182 but no order was made.