Miss M Cavanagh v Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust and 1 other — 2022

This was a preliminary hearing on the respondents' applications to strike out, or alternatively require deposits for, the claimant's direct race discrimination, harassment related to race and victimisation complaints. The Tribunal took the claimant's pleaded facts at their highest and noted the high threshold for striking out discrimination claims.

The Tribunal found that the early allegations arising from the incident with DD and the respondents' subsequent treatment of the claimant could not be said to have no or little reasonable prospect of success without hearing evidence. It also declined to strike out or require deposits for later allegations, because an overall assessment of the evidence and possible inferences might be relevant to whether those matters were related to race.

On time limits, the Tribunal did not decide jurisdiction but found that the claimant had at least a reasonable prospect of arguing a continuing act or that it would be just and equitable to extend time, given the internal processes, the employment and management arrangements involving both respondents, and personal circumstances relied on by the claimant. The Tribunal considered the 18 March 2020 email alone was unlikely to be a protected act, but refused strike out or deposit orders because the victimisation complaints also relied on an oral complaint and overlapped with other discrimination complaints. The sex discrimination complaints and the constructive unfair dismissal complaint against the second respondent were dismissed on withdrawal.