Mr R Wright v Grove WP Ltd — 2024

The claimant, a Wellness Manager employed by the respondent from April 2021, was summarily dismissed on 14 February 2023 following a disciplinary process concerning failure to complete Knowcross gym checks and dishonesty about the ordering of a replacement speed ball. He brought a single claim of direct race discrimination in relation to that dismissal. The respondent applied for the claim to be struck out as having no reasonable prospect of success, or alternatively for a deposit order.

Employment Judge Shastri-Hurst, taking the claimant's case at its highest, concluded that there was no reasonable prospect of the claimant passing the initial burden of proof under s.136 of the Equality Act 2010. The reasons advanced by the claimant and his mother amounted to a perception that the disciplinary process was unfair, from which the claimant inferred the explanation must be his race. The tribunal found no evidence from which it could be inferred that a hypothetical comparator of a different race would have been treated differently, and no "something more" beyond a difference in race as required by Madarassy.

The judge granted the strike-out application. The claim remains live only for the purpose of any application to amend, with directions set out in a separate Case Management Order. There was no determination on remedy.