Mr Diego Burzotta v Ristorante Cucina Ltd — 2021

Ms J Arthurs brought disability discrimination, harassment and breach of contract claims against Balanced Financial Services Ltd. The disability allegations included direct discrimination, discrimination arising from disability and failure to make reasonable adjustments; the breach of contract claim was for unpaid commission of £6,000. Before the relisted preliminary hearing, the claimant withdrew the claim on 30 July 2021, saying the litigation was affecting her health and causing stress cluster headaches. The hearing that followed was limited to the respondent's application for costs.

Applying rule 76 of the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2013 and the associated guidance, Employment Judge Tuck QC held that the circumstances for a costs order were engaged. The tribunal found the claims had no reasonable prospects because the discrimination allegations did not identify a causal link to disability or something arising from disability, the reasonable-adjustments allegation was inconsistent with contemporaneous correspondence and was in any event out of time, and the commission claim was unsupported by documents. It also accepted the respondent's submission that the proceedings were vexatious or an abuse of process, noting the deleted emails, the regulatory reports, the lack of compliance with disclosure directions and the claimant's conditional settlement offer tying withdrawal to the respondent abandoning threatened civil proceedings. Taking account of the claimant's means and her evidence about stress and cluster headaches, the tribunal ordered her to pay £6,000 in costs.