Mrs Z McGill v Mitie Limited and 2 others — 2023

The claimant brought disability discrimination claims relying on depression and PTSD. The preliminary hearing considered whether the claim against the 3rd respondent, Draefern Limited t/as GI Group, should be struck out or made subject to a deposit order. The relevant events concerned the rescinding of a proposed placement at the 2nd respondent's site before the claimant's intended start date.

The Tribunal found that the claimant's pleaded case did not identify an unlawful act of discrimination by the 3rd respondent. The claimant's own account attributed the rescinding of the offer to the actions of others and, when questioned, she accepted that the 3rd respondent had not colluded and that the relevant individuals at the 3rd respondent had been sympathetic and tried to help her.

The Tribunal accepted that the 3rd respondent's representatives had opposed the 2nd respondent's decision to rescind the placement and had offered support to the claimant afterwards. It concluded that there were no primary facts from which a Tribunal at a final hearing could infer disability discrimination by the 3rd respondent, and that there was no reasonable prospect of establishing a causal connection between the claimant's disability and the rescinding of the placement so far as the 3rd respondent was concerned. The claims against the 3rd respondent were therefore struck out, while the surviving claims against the 1st and 2nd respondents were unaffected.