Miss S Browne v Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Trust — 2023

The claimant brought claims including harassment, direct race discrimination, disability discrimination, pregnancy/maternity discrimination, victimisation, protected disclosure detriment and unlawful deduction of wages. At an earlier preliminary hearing, the claimant was ordered to provide particulars for the victimisation and protected disclosure detriment claims, and information about disability. The judgment records that the claimant did not provide the ordered particulars for victimisation or protected disclosure detriment.

The claimant did not attend the hearing on 17 October 2023, having emailed the previous day to say she could not attend because of ill health. The Tribunal decided it was in the interests of justice to proceed on the strike-out issues, noting the history of delay, the absence of an express postponement request, and the opportunities the claimant had already had to provide material or representations.

The Tribunal found that the harassment complaint had not been actively pursued because no details had been provided in the ET1, at the earlier three-hour hearing, or subsequently. It also found that the victimisation and protected disclosure detriment claims had not been actively pursued because necessary particulars had not been provided by the ordered deadline or by the later hearing date. The Tribunal concluded that strike out was just and proportionate, with alternative findings that the same claims could be struck out for failure to comply with Tribunal orders or because, without particulars, they had no reasonable prospects of success.