Mr William Storey, Executor For the v Respondent — 2026

This was a reserved judgment following a Public Preliminary Hearing before Employment Judge M Warren. Mr Kevan Dean, who had worked for E.SURV Limited for 26 years until his retirement on 31 May 2023, died on 8 August 2024. Proceedings were issued by his brother-in-law Mr William Storey as executor on 10 January 2025, advancing claims of disability discrimination (relying on Pseudobulbar Dysarthria), detriment for protected disclosures, breach of contract and unpaid wages relating to a dispute over shares. The protected disclosure claim was dismissed upon withdrawal.

On the Respondent's application, the Tribunal considered whether the Claimant had any reasonable prospect of persuading a Tribunal that it would be just and equitable to extend time for the disability discrimination claim, which was accepted to be out of time. Applying the discretion under section 123 of the Equality Act 2010 and the authorities including Morgan, Adedeji, Robertson v Bexley, Caston, Jones, Kumari and Robinson v Post Office, the Judge concluded that detailed analysis of events, time frames and the question of whether a fair trial was possible led inevitably to the conclusion that there were no reasonable prospects of persuading a Tribunal to extend time. The disability discrimination claim was therefore struck out under Rule 38(1)(a).

The Case Management Orders made by EJ Davey on 12 November 2025 for preparation of the Final Main Hearing were revoked. The remaining breach of contract and unpaid wages claims were listed for a further one-day Public Preliminary Hearing on 7 May 2026 to consider jurisdiction (including the effect of Mr Dean's death and s.206 ERA 1996 and the Extension of Jurisdiction Order 1994), strike out for no reasonable prospects, or whether a Deposit Order should be made. The November 2027 Final Main Hearing was left in the list for the moment.