Mr D Quarm v The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis — 2021

The claims concerned one alleged detriment: delay by the respondent in dealing with an application for a Deed of Postponement needed for the claimant's Barclays mortgage. The claimant alleged that the delay was direct race discrimination, victimisation because of previous protected acts, and protected disclosure detriment.

The tribunal reviewed the timeline and found that the respondent was not aware of any relevant deadline before the claim was presented, apart from a 1 February 2021 deadline set by the claimant himself. It found that the respondent responded in reasonable timescales to the claimant and to Enact, referred the matter to the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime, and chased that office before the deed was obtained and sent to Enact.

The tribunal concluded that there was no reasonable prospect of showing an unreasonable or unethical delay by the respondent, which was the detriment relied on. It also concluded that, even if detriment were established, there was no reasonable prospect of showing facts from which the tribunal could decide there had been a contravention of the Equality Act 2010, or that any detriment was because of previous Equality Act claims or protected disclosures. All three claims were struck out, but the tribunal did not find that they were totally without merit.