Mr Josh Collins v Jenny Formby (sued as a representative of all members of The Labour Party except the claimant) — 2020

At the open preliminary hearing, the tribunal allowed the claimant's amendments under Selkent v Moore. It found the respondent would not be prejudiced, and that the amendments were essentially a relabelling and more detailed setting out of the same factual case rather than wholly new claims.

The tribunal found that Mr Collins was not an employee or worker of the Labour Party. He had been a volunteer Campaign Forum Delegate, received no pay, had no contract, and there was no mutuality of obligation. The judge accepted the respondent's evidence that the interviewers did not know of any protected disclosures or any mental health issue, and found that the claimant was unsuccessful for the job because he had less campaigning experience than other candidates.

The tribunal treated the Equality Act complaint as a claim that the claimant was refused the post because he was perceived as disabled. It held that the claim was out of time: the relevant events crystallised in September 2018, proceedings were not issued until 2 July 2019, and the claimant gave no good reason for the delay. The judge also found that the delay prejudiced the respondent because interview documents had been destroyed and witness recollection had faded. The Equality Act claim was therefore struck out for want of jurisdiction; the judge added that, if it had not already failed on time, it would have been weak enough to justify a deposit order.

The whistleblowing claim was struck out because the claimant was not a worker within section 230(3) ERA 1996 and so had no standing to bring a section 47B claim. The tribunal also described it as having no reasonable prospect of success. The unfair dismissal claim had been withdrawn, and the decision records that all matters were finalised with no further hearing.