Mr Marcial Armas Landaura v Represented by:15 Alec Rose Tayside Health Board — 2021

At the preliminary hearing, Mr Marcial Armas Landaura sought to amend conjoined discrimination claims against Tayside Health Board to add alleged acts from November 2015 up to the disciplinary process that started on 24 June 2019. The Tribunal accepted that he genuinely believed he had been treated differently over time, but it was not deciding the truth of the underlying allegations; the issue was whether the amendment should be allowed under the Selkent approach. It found the proposed amendment substantial and extensive, adding new and further-specified claims, and concluded there was no discernible link between the earlier incidents and the 2019 disciplinary process. On that basis, the earlier matters were treated as a series of unconnected or isolated incidents rather than a continuing discriminatory state of affairs under Hendricks v Metropolitan Police Commissioner.

The Tribunal then considered time limits and the just and equitable discretion under section 123 of the Equality Act 2010, applying the Keeble factors and taking account of the Claimant's knowledge. It noted that he had union advice about a discrimination claim as early as 16 August 2016, had RCN representation throughout the 2019 disciplinary process, received legal advice on 24 June 2020, and was told the pre-24 June 2019 matters were time-barred. He did not lodge the amended grounds until 2 November 2020, and the Tribunal found no satisfactory explanation for that delay. It also considered that the passage of time would affect the cogency of the evidence and that allowing the amendment would cause prejudice, delay and further expense, so the application to amend was refused.