Mr C Htwe v Runwood Homes Ltd — 2022

At a preliminary hearing on 21 October 2022 before Acting Regional Employment Judge Burgher, the respondent applied to strike out the claimant's disability discrimination claim, alternatively for a deposit order. The issue was whether the claimant could establish that he was disabled by reason of a hearing impairment. The tribunal recorded that the ET1 alleged he could not hear a buzzer 6 feet away and described severe deafness, while at earlier hearings he said he was partially deaf and later said he had below average hearing rather than severe deafness.

The tribunal relied on the absence of supporting medical evidence. The claimant's audiology report dated 16 February 2022 showed normal hearing in both ears, and GP and hospital records from 2017 to 2022 contained no evidence of hearing difficulties. The claimant's representative argued that he could give evidence about lip reading, difficulty hearing workplace conversations, concern about not hearing the work buzzer, adjusting his voice to background noise, and equipment he had bought to help at work, but the tribunal held that the documentary evidence did not support his contention that he had a hearing impairment at all.

The tribunal struck out the disability discrimination claim under Rule 37 on the basis that it had no reasonable prospect of success and said that it was therefore dismissed. The judgment states that the ruling did not affect the claimant's remaining claims, which were listed to be heard in July 2023.