Mrs S Lowther v John Nike Leisuresport Ltd — 2019

The claimant brought an unfair dismissal complaint and a discrimination complaint based on marital status. The respondent applied to reject the claim because the name on the claim form was "Sue Nike" rather than the company name on the ACAS certificate. The tribunal treated that as a minor error and held that it would not be in the interests of justice to reject the claim, so the respondent name was amended to John Nike Leisuresport Ltd and the unfair dismissal complaint was allowed to continue.

On the discrimination complaint, the tribunal refused the respondent's strike out application. It held that the complaint could not succeed as victimisation because the claimant had not done a protected act. It also said that, for direct discrimination or harassment, the treatment complained of would need to relate to the claimant's marital status rather than simply to the fact that she was married to Mr Black. The tribunal concluded that the claim had little reasonable chance of success, but not no reasonable chance of success, and it discussed the possibility of a deposit order.

After a short adjournment, the claimant withdrew the discrimination complaint and agreed to its dismissal. No monetary award was made in this judgment, and the unfair dismissal claim was not finally determined here.