Mr I Ahmed, Counsel For the v Respondent — 2021

This was a case management hearing on the claimant's application to amend. The tribunal applied the Selkent line of authorities and the usual balance of injustice and hardship approach to a proposed expanded pleading, with the focus on the nature of the amendments, limitation, timing, and prejudice. No merits findings were made and no remedy award was assessed at this stage.

The tribunal refused the bulk of the new whistleblowing material. It treated the proposed protected-disclosure detriments, and the further qualifying-disclosure allegation, as new and, in part, out of time, and said there was no good reason for the delay. It also refused the reasonable adjustments amendment and the later deduction claims of £553.85 and £60. The claimant's indirect discrimination limb was dismissed after withdrawal, but the original £600 deduction claim remained available to proceed.

The tribunal allowed amendments adding automatic unfair dismissal under s103A ERA 1996, direct disability discrimination, harassment related to disability, discrimination arising in consequence of disability, direct race discrimination, harassment related to race, and post-employment victimisation under ss39(4) and 108 Equality Act 2010. It accepted the disability-related pleaded references, including depression, anxiety, insomnia and the possible inclusion of sleep apnoea, and treated the arising-from-disability limb as a relabelling of existing facts. It also allowed the existing disability and race harassment claims to proceed, while refusing the new 'bugger' allegation and listing the matter for a further preliminary hearing on 14 December 2021.