J Pitcher v The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of The University Of Oxford — 2023

This was a preliminary hearing on the Respondent's application to strike out the Claimant's only pleaded claim, victimisation under s.27 EqA 2010, said to arise from the University Registrar's refusal to hear a grievance about the Employer Justified Retirement Age. The Respondent accepted for the purposes of the application that the grievance and earlier Employment Tribunal proceedings were protected acts and that the refusal to deal with the grievance was a detriment, but said the reason for the refusal was that the same subject matter had already been determined by the courts.

The Tribunal refused the strike-out application under rule 37. It held that, taking the case at its highest, there was enough material for an inference that the protected acts may have been a reason for the refusal to progress the grievance. The Tribunal considered the unusual features of the case, including that the EJRA had been successfully challenged in later litigation and that age-discrimination evidence said to be relevant had not been allowed in the earlier claim, and concluded that the claim was not merely a bare assertion or something dependent on cross-examination.

However, the Tribunal made a deposit order under rule 39, concluding that the claim had little reasonable prospect of success on causation. It provisionally accepted the Respondent's case that the refusal to hear the grievance was because the matter had already been determined by the tribunal and appeal courts, rather than because the grievance or prior EqA proceedings were protected acts. On that basis it ordered a deposit of £750, noting the Claimant's stated earnings of £50,000 per year and finding that the sum should not impede access to justice.