Mrs A Pienczak v GT Race and Trailers Ltd — 2019

Mrs A Pienczak, a Polish seamstress, brought claims for unfair dismissal, race discrimination, age discrimination and a redundancy payment. At the preliminary hearing on 23 May 2019, the respondent said it had paid her £506.25 as additional redundancy payment and £119.25 as additional holiday pay. After confirming receipt, the claimant withdrew the redundancy payment complaint. She also withdrew the age discrimination complaint, saying she did not believe her treatment was linked to age.

The race discrimination complaint was based on alleged treatment by another employee, Jackie, an unidentified incident in September or October 2017, a 10 January 2018 incident in which Jackie allegedly called the claimant a "stupid woman", and the claimant's dismissal. The claimant said she believed the treatment was linked to her nationality, but she could not explain why beyond saying that Jackie hated her, that she was ignored, and that "they" did not want her at work.

Employment Judge Ayre held that the race discrimination claim was very weak because the claimant had not identified any prima facie link between the alleged treatment and nationality. However, applying the caution normally required before striking out fact-sensitive discrimination claims, and taking account of the claimant's lack of representation and illness, the tribunal declined to strike out the claim under Rule 37.

Instead, the tribunal found the race discrimination allegation had little reasonable prospect of success and made a Rule 39 deposit order for £250. In deciding the amount, the tribunal took the claimant's means into account, noting her monthly income of £493, lack of savings, and the fact that £250 was about two weeks' income.