Paul Larmond v Immanuel and St Andrews Primary School — 2023

This was an Open Preliminary Hearing before Employment Judge G Phillips on 3 November 2023 dealing with three applications by the Respondent following a Case Management Hearing on 7 August 2023 which neither the Claimant nor his representatives attended. The applications were: (i) a wasted costs order against the Claimant's representatives; (ii) strike-out of the race discrimination claim; and (iii) in the alternative, a deposit order in respect of that claim.

On the wasted costs application, the Judge applied the three-stage test in Ridehalgh v Horsefield and found that the Claimant's representatives (Lambeth Solicitors) had been negligent in failing to act on emails from Acas in June and from the Tribunal and the Respondent in early August 2023 about the impending hearing. Mr Abu accepted the emails had been overlooked and their importance not appreciated. The Judge concluded this caused the Respondent to incur unnecessary costs, reflected in Counsel's fee for the 7 August hearing, and ordered Lambeth Solicitors to pay £750 in wasted costs.

On the strike-out and deposit order applications, the Judge declined to strike out the race discrimination claim or to make a deposit order, noting the draconian nature of strike out and that the final hearing was not until August 2024. However, the Judge agreed there were deficiencies in the claim as pleaded, including a lack of detail on the who/what/when/where of the alleged incidents and the absence of any specification of the Claimant's race, ethnicity or nationality, or whether he relied on a comparator. The Claimant was given 14 days (until 20 November 2023) to properly particularise the claim or withdraw it, failing which it would be struck out forthwith under an unless order.