Mr L Pinkowski v G & E Murgatroyde Ltd — 2022

At the preliminary hearing before Employment Judge Parkin on 22 June 2022, the claimant’s claims were considered on strike-out and deposit issues. The claimant had presented claims of unfair dismissal, age discrimination and race discrimination arising from a 16-hour part-time job offer at the respondent’s SPAR store in Preston. The Tribunal recorded that the claimant is Polish and was about 45 years old when he applied for the role in June 2021.

On the unfair dismissal claim, the Tribunal found that the claimant never started work for the respondent and therefore did not have the two years' continuous service needed to bring an ordinary unfair dismissal claim. It found no basis for any exception to the qualifying period under s.108 ERA 1996. The claim was therefore struck out as having no reasonable prospect of success.

On the discrimination claims, the claimant clarified at the hearing that he was pursuing indirect discrimination only, not direct discrimination. The Tribunal found that the relevant requirement was a flexible 16-hour working pattern, but that the claimant had shown only a personal disadvantage because he wanted fixed shifts and additional hours to fit another job. He had not produced evidence of any group disadvantage affecting people of his age group or Polish people more generally.

The Tribunal therefore held that both the age and race discrimination claims had no reasonable prospect of success and were struck out. Because it struck out the discrimination claims, it did not need to consider deposit orders. No monetary award was made.