Case 3321367/2019 · Employment Tribunal

Mr D Kuma v Asda Stores Limited — 2020

Case reference: 3321367/2019
Decision date: 28 October 2020
Jurisdiction: England & Wales
Judge: Employment Judge Ord

Indexed: 18 May 2026

Parties

2 named

Claimant

Mr D Kuma

Respondent

Asda Stores Limited

Key findings

Tribunal's reasoning

This was a preliminary hearing. The claimant had previously brought tribunal proceedings against the respondent in 2017, including harassment and direct discrimination complaints related to race, sex and sexual orientation. Those earlier claims were dismissed after the claimant failed to comply with an Unless Order requiring disclosure of text messages.

In the current claim, the tribunal found that the pleaded harassment allegations and parts of the direct sexual orientation discrimination and victimisation complaints repeated allegations from the earlier proceedings, all based on incidents said to have occurred between July and December 2016. The tribunal held that cause of action estoppel applied and that re-litigating the matters would be an abuse of process under Henderson v Henderson.

The tribunal also found that the relevant victimisation allegation had no reasonable prospect of success because the only protected act relied on was the issuing of the original proceedings in October 2017, while the acts complained of occurred in 2016. An allegation pleaded as disability discrimination was dismissed because it was accepted not to be a disability discrimination claim but a repetition of the sexual orientation complaint. Other complaints, including alleged wage deductions, related discrimination and victimisation allegations, reasonable adjustments, and dismissal-related discrimination issues, remained to be determined.

Claims and outcomes

4 findings recorded

Claim type	Issue or finding	Outcome	Protected characteristic	Award
Sexual orientation discrimination	The direct sexual orientation discrimination complaints in paragraphs 11(i) and 11(ii) of the ET1 attachment were struck out because they had been raised in previous proceedings between the same parties and were barred by cause of action estoppel and Henderson v Henderson abuse of process.	Struck out	Sexual orientation	—
Harassment	The harassment complaints in paragraph 13 of the ET1 attachment were struck out. The claimant accepted they repeated claims brought in earlier proceedings, and the tribunal found cause of action estoppel applied.	Struck out	Sexual orientation	—
Victimisation	The victimisation complaint in paragraph 12(i), concerning alleged failure to protect the claimant from conduct by fellow employees, was struck out for the same estoppel and abuse of process reasons. The tribunal also found no reasonable prospect because the complained-of 2016 matters preceded the protected act relied on, namely the original proceedings issued in October 2017.	Struck out	—	—
Disability discrimination	The allegation pleaded as disability discrimination in paragraph 14(i) was dismissed because the claimant accepted it was not a disability discrimination claim but a repetition of the sexual orientation complaint.	Dismissed	Disability	—

Legal tests applied

5 references

Official outcome judgment PDF

Gov.uk primary record

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