In person For the v Respondent — 2018

This was an open preliminary hearing on 15 March 2022 before Employment Judge Truscott QC. The respondent applied under Rule 37(1)(b) and (e) to strike out the claimant's disability discrimination, harassment, victimisation and section 10 Employment Relations Act 1999 claims. The tribunal struck out the claim and discharged the final hearing listed for 31 July to 8 August 2023.

The tribunal accepted Mr Gooder's evidence about the history of disclosure and case management. It found that the claimant became preoccupied with allegations that her Outlook emails had been hacked, that the bundle had been tampered with, and that the respondent and its solicitors were involved. The tribunal recorded that the respondent repeatedly explained that the documents complained of had been received from the claimant or her representative, or were embedded in an investigation report, and that the police investigation ended after those explanations were provided.

Applying Rule 37 and the authorities it cited, including Blockbuster, Bennett, Attorney General v Barker, Bolch, Arriva London North v Maseya, Baber and De Keyser, the tribunal held that the claimant's conduct was vexatious and unreasonable, but not scandalous. It said she refused to accept straightforward explanations, made no serious attempt to progress the substantive issues, and instead repeated unparticularised allegations to the tribunal, the Police and the SRA. The tribunal also found that the proceedings had consumed significant case-management time and caused considerable cost to a public body.

The tribunal concluded that a fair trial was not possible because the claimant would not confine herself to relevant issues and would continue to pursue the hacking allegations in a way that would derail the merits hearing. It held that strike out was a proportionate response even though preparations for the final hearing were substantially in place. No monetary award was made because the claim was struck out at the preliminary stage.