Sahidur Rahman v London Borough of Tower Hamlets — 2024

At the strike-out hearing on 16 February 2024, Employment Judge Housego considered the respondent's application under Rule 37 to strike out the unfair dismissal and disability discrimination claims. The judge applied the high threshold for striking out discrimination claims, referring to Ahir v British Airways Plc, but concluded that this was an exceptional case. The judge did not strike out for non-compliance with tribunal orders or for want of prosecution, noting that the claimant had attended the hearing and had ultimately complied with most directions, albeit late and incompletely.

On disability discrimination, the tribunal took the claimant's case at its highest as including anxiety and depression and borderline personality disorder, together with associative discrimination based on the disabilities of his father and brother. It found no reasonable prospect of success because the claimant had not shown a causative link between any disability and the treatment complained of. The judge held that the allegations about management failure, delay in grievance handling, and moving the claimant between workplaces were generic complaints not tied to disability. The father's associative claim failed because the father had died, and the brother-related claim failed because the respondent had agreed to home working and had tried to provide a laptop, so there was no detriment from less favourable treatment because of the brother's disability.

On unfair dismissal, the tribunal found no reasonable prospect of the claimant showing that dismissal was not for some other substantial reason or that the decision fell outside the range of reasonable responses under s.98(4) ERA 1996. The judge relied on the claimant's account that he wanted to work from home to care for his brother, but had refused to collect or accept delivery of the laptop offered, had threatened a senior manager with a police complaint, and had not articulated a coherent disability-linked basis for the dismissal complaint. The tribunal therefore struck out the claim in full.