In person For the v Miss J Linford, Solicitor — 2023

Miss Idowu worked for West London YMCA as a Night Support Manager from 28 January 2015 until she resigned on 18 March 2022. After early conciliation she issued proceedings on 3 June 2022. At this open preliminary hearing, Employment Judge M Warren granted her application to amend the pleadings so that the complaint was framed as a detriment claim under s.45A(1)(f) ERA 1996, based on the allegation that she had alleged an infringement of the Working Time Regulations 1998, rather than as victimisation under the Equality Act 2010.

The respondent's applications to strike out the claims, or alternatively for a deposit order, were refused. The tribunal set out the different thresholds for strike out and deposit orders and referred to Ezsias v North Glamorgan NHS Trust, Morgan v Royal Mencap Society, Jansen van Rensberg v Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Arthur v Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, Hemdan v Ishmail and another, Sami v Avellan, and Rojha v Zinc Media Group plc. Applying those principles, it held that the case turned on disputed facts and that it could not properly determine at this stage whether the claimant's account was unsustainable or only had little reasonable prospect of success.

The reasons record disputes about whether the investigation into printer use, the First Written Warning, and the grievance and appeal process were linked to the claimant's giving evidence for a colleague in an Employment Tribunal claim; whether the grievance and appeal were delayed; and whether the claimant had been subjected to conduct amounting to a breach of the implied term of trust and confidence. The judge noted misgivings about the claimant's prospects, but concluded that the matters needed to be tested at a final hearing rather than determined on a preliminary application. The case was listed for a liability hearing, with a later remedy hearing only if the claimant succeeded.