Miss Abi Harris v Lawson (Whetstone) Limited — 2022

Miss Abi Harris was employed by Lawson (Whetstone) Limited as a Credit Analyst from 2 September 2019 to 1 October 2021. She brought claims of constructive unfair dismissal, direct discrimination because of her Jewish religion, harassment related to religion, and victimisation. The 28 June 2023 hearing was a preliminary hearing on the respondent's application to strike out the claims under rule 37 and, alternatively, for a deposit order under rule 39; it was not a final merits hearing.

Employment Judge Bansal refused both strike out and a deposit order. The tribunal applied the cautious approach required in discrimination cases and referred to Anyanwu, Mechkarov, Cox, Hasan, Rule 2, Rule 37, Rule 39 and Wright. It accepted that the claimant, as a litigant in person, had done enough to identify the case she was advancing: she had served further information on 5 October 2022, had identified a comparator and a hypothetical comparator, and the agreed list of issues already set out the complaints. The fact that she could not give exact dates did not amount to non-compliance, because the tribunal considered that the relevant emails and disclosure might provide that information.

The tribunal held that the claims were fact-sensitive and turned on disputed central facts, including whether the claimant was treated differently or subjected to the treatment alleged. It said those matters could not be decided fairly without hearing evidence. It also rejected the respondent's point that a fair trial was impossible because two witnesses had left, noting that the respondent had known of the grievance letter dated 17 September 2021, the claim form in early November 2021, and the detailed issues by 1 September 2022, so steps should have been taken earlier to secure witness statements and contact details. At the hearing, the claimant withdrew the victimisation complaint, and the tribunal recorded that a withdrawal judgment would be issued.