Svetoslav Mitev v Mitie Limited — 2023

This was a preliminary issues judgment concerning the Respondent's applications to strike out, or alternatively obtain deposit orders for, the Claimant's race discrimination claims. The Claimant's wider claims included unfair dismissal, automatically unfair dismissal for protected disclosures, detriment for protected disclosures, direct and indirect race discrimination, harassment related to race, victimisation, and unauthorised deduction of wages, but the preliminary applications concerned the race discrimination claims only.

The Tribunal refused to strike out the direct race discrimination claim, the indirect race discrimination claim, the victimisation claim, and the first two harassment allegations. It held that those allegations involved disputed factual issues which should be examined at the substantive hearing, particularly given the caution required before striking out discrimination claims and the Claimant's position as a litigant in person whose first language was not English.

The Tribunal struck out only the harassment allegation based on the Respondent's use of the term "Brexit" and creation of a "Brexit" email address and team. It found that this allegation had no reasonable prospect of success, noting that "Brexit" was a term in common use for the UK's withdrawal from the European Union and that the Claimant's objection appeared to concern the team's approach to right-to-work matters rather than the name itself.

The Tribunal made a £100 deposit order for the indirect race discrimination claim. It considered that claim faced serious difficulties because the alleged provision, criterion or practice was requesting documentation from EU employees, and both parties agreed it was applied only to EU employees; the Tribunal also noted the Respondent's argument that it was obliged by law to make right-to-work enquiries. The remaining claims were ordered to proceed to a hearing starting on 6 February 2024.