Ms E Mouat v Network Rail Infrastructure Limited — 2022

This was the third preliminary hearing dealing with the claimant's application to amend existing proceedings. The claimant already had claims of unlawful discrimination on the protected characteristic of disability and sought to add further disability discrimination allegations and new allegations on the protected characteristic of sex. The Tribunal considered the nature of each proposed amendment, the timing of the application, the reasons for delay, and the balance of hardship or injustice to each party.

For the disability allegations, the Tribunal allowed amendments where the proposed allegations were closely linked to matters already pleaded or would not require substantially different enquiry. Allegations 2, 7, 11, 18 and 27 were allowed. Allegations 12 and 15 were refused because they concerned air quality assessments not mentioned in the original particulars and would require additional enquiry after a significant lapse of time. Allegation 22 was refused because the claimant had deliberately left it out of the original claim and the Tribunal found it would not be just and equitable to extend time. Allegation 24 was removed as a duplicate of allegation 20.

For the proposed sex discrimination amendments, the Tribunal refused permission. It found that allegation 1 was a new cause of action connected to the original claim only by the same alleged perpetrator, was out of time, and would likely cause significant difficulty for the respondent in obtaining evidence. It found allegation 2 was an entirely new head of claim, unclear as to the alleged perpetrator or treatment relied upon, and that it would not be just and equitable to extend time.