Mr O Onyibe v Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust — 2025

The tribunal determined at a preliminary hearing that the claimant's direct race discrimination claims and unlawful deduction from wages claims should be struck out under Rule 38 of the Employment Tribunal Rules 2024. The discrimination allegations concerned the claimant's non-inclusion on the on-call rota and the handling of a patient relative's complaint. The wages allegations concerned one day's pay in May 2023 and arrears said to be due under the NHS 'Agenda for Change' pay award.

On time limits, the tribunal found that the wages claims were separate from the discrimination claims and did not extend time for them. Giving the claimant the benefit of the doubt, it treated 6 April 2023 as the last alleged discriminatory act, when the rota issue was likely discussed and the claimant was told his contract would not be renewed. Because the claim was presented on 18 October 2023, the discrimination claims were prima facie out of time. The tribunal was not satisfied that it was just and equitable to extend time, finding that the claimant had not shown an adequate reason for delay and that the balance of prejudice favored the respondent.

In assessing the discrimination claims for that purpose, the tribunal found them weak on the material before it. It referred to evidence that junior doctors were not placed on the rota until deemed competent, that the patient's relatives' complaint had been handled under usual protocols, and that the claimant had been paid rota-related sums despite not being on the rota. On the wages claims, the tribunal accepted contemporaneous payslip evidence showing payment for 29 May 2023 and payment of the 'Agenda for Change' arrears in September 2023; the claimant did not challenge the calculations in cross-examination.