Ms J Evans v Docklands Restaurants and Bars Limited — 2021

At a preliminary hearing on 3 August 2020, Employment Judge Alliott sitting alone dismissed the respondent's application for a strike-out order and/or a deposit order. The judge said he was taking the claimant's pleaded case at its highest for the purpose of the application and applied the rule 37 and 39 threshold of whether the claims had no reasonable prospect of success or little reasonable prospect of success.

The application focused on two alleged protected disclosures. The first concerned the claimant's complaints in April 2018 about workload, her health, and the absence of a risk assessment. The tribunal accepted that it was arguable that a complaint about a lack of risk assessment could serve the interests of all employees and could therefore be in the public interest. It therefore found that the public-interest argument on that disclosure had reasonable prospects of success.

The second disclosure concerned the claimant's statement to Jacqui Sutton that Stephen Thomas was an undischarged bankrupt and that he was not permitted or suitable to be a manager or otherwise associated with the respondent's business. The tribunal held that this was arguably a reference to a legal status and a legal prohibition under company law, and it did not conclude that the claim had no or little reasonable prospects of success. The judge also held that the alleged detriment was capable of constituting a detriment because, on the pleaded case, the employer had not taken any appropriate and reasonable action after the health and safety complaint.

The case management section recorded that the final hearing would determine all issues, including unfair dismissal, public interest disclosure, and notice pay, with remedy if appropriate. No final liability or remedy decision was made in this record.