Ms F Hodge solicitor For the v Ms L Evanson — 2025

At a preliminary hearing on 6 June 2025, Tribunal Judge G D Davison refused the claimant's application to amend the claim to add protected disclosure detriment under the ERA 1996. The tribunal applied the amendment balancing exercise, referring to Selkent Bus Co Ltd v Moore, Trimble and anor v North Lanarkshire Council and anor, Conteh v First Security Guards Ltd, and Vaughan v Modality Partnership.

The judge found the proposed amendment was not a clerical or typographical correction but a change to the basis of the claim because it introduced a new head of claim and additional facts about alleged disclosures. The tribunal noted that the latest potential disclosure was said to be November 2023, the claim form was presented in June 2024, and the claimant resigned in April 2024, yet no application or explanation was advanced for why any out-of-time claim should be admitted. It also found the claimant's stated reason for the late amendment, that it was made in response to the respondent's ET3, was not a valid basis for amendment.

The tribunal further noted that the claimant was legally represented throughout, that no good reason had been given for failing to plead the claim from the outset or to seek an extension of time, and that the amendment application was served later than the case management order required. It observed that existing claims for direct race discrimination and constructive wrongful dismissal were already in the case and would proceed to the substantive hearing, but the proposed whistleblowing amendment was refused.