Mr Ike Efobi v Royal Mail Group Limited and 1 other — 2020

The claimant brought a complaint described as "bullying in breach of common law" while he was still employed by the respondent. At a preliminary hearing and after a strike-out warning, he relied on written submissions and did not request a hearing on the strike-out issue.

The tribunal accepted for the purpose of the judgment that the claimant might have a reasonable prospect of showing that the respondent had bullied him and fundamentally breached his contract through breach of the implied term of trust and confidence. The difficulty was jurisdictional: the tribunal found that employment tribunals have only limited powers to hear breach of contract damages claims, and serving employees cannot bring such claims before the tribunal.

Because the claimant remained employed when he presented the claim, and because the alleged common law bullying claim depended on breach of contract damages, the tribunal held that this part of the claim had no reasonable prospect of success and struck it out. The judgment expressly stated that the remainder of the claim was unaffected and would proceed to a hearing.