Mr L Garcia (date of birth: 28 April 1964) v Bigbux and 2 others — 2021

This was a public hybrid preliminary hearing before Employment Judge Quill sitting alone. The tribunal considered recusal, identity, early conciliation, anonymity, strike out, and the effect of an Unless Order in a group of linked sex-discrimination claims brought by Mr L Garcia/Ramos. The judge found that the claimant had used different names and dates of birth across the claims; the wrong dates of birth on claims 2 and 3 were found to have been entered deliberately, but the name variations and the "Ramas" spelling were treated as errors and not a basis to reject the claims for early conciliation reasons.

The judge refused the recusal applications, applying the apparent bias guidance in Jones v Das and Locabail v Bayfield Properties Ltd, and also refused anonymity. He found that the claimant had not complied with earlier case management orders requiring disclosure of job applications, employment history, details of other claims and early conciliations, and timely witness statements. The witness statements were sent about 10 months late, and the claimant refused to answer questions about whether he was subject to a GCRO and how many other claims and ACAS conciliations he had commenced.

The tribunal held that the claimant's refusal to answer those questions was unreasonable, wilful, deliberate and contumelious, and that it would not be possible to have a fair trial without the information. However, the formal order was that all nine claims stood dismissed under Rule 38(1) because the claimant had not complied with the Unless Order dated 17 August 2021 by 10 September 2021. The judge said that, if they had not already been dismissed, the claims would have been struck out for unreasonable conduct. No remedy was awarded.