Mr K Spencer First v Brian Williamson Second Respondent : Storefeeder Limited Third Respondent: Ian Dade — 2024

The judgment on 14 January 2024 concerned a preliminary hearing in a case brought by Mr K Spencer after a short period of employment from 20 June 2022 to 18 August 2022 as a Support Manager. The earlier procedural history recorded that age discrimination, notice pay, holiday pay and other payments had already been withdrawn or dismissed, and race discrimination had been dismissed on withdrawal in August 2023. At this hearing Mr Spencer confirmed that he had received his full notice pay, so the wrongful dismissal claim against the Second Respondent was dismissed on withdrawal.

The remaining live issue was a section 13 disability discrimination claim against all three respondents. The claimant's case was that he had supported a team member with dyslexia, referred to in the judgment as PDE, and that the probation review notes written by Ian Dade and the dismissal decision by Brian Williamson wrongly criticised him for giving PDE too much attention and for arranging further meetings about disclosing PDE's condition. The respondent said the criticism was not about PDE's disability but about the claimant not giving enough support to the rest of the team.

On the respondent's Rule 39 deposit order application, Employment Judge Broughton reviewed the authorities on strike out and deposit orders, including the need to avoid a mini-trial and to make only a broad assessment of merits. The tribunal held that the claimant's case raised fundamental factual disputes, that the contemporaneous documents were not inconsistent with his account, and that it could not say at that stage that the disability discrimination claim had little reasonable prospect of success. The deposit order application was refused, and the disability discrimination claim remained listed for the final hearing on 29 and 30 April and 1 May 2024.