M Shearer v Litigant In Person Muir Leisure Limited (part of Muir Group PLC) — 2023

The tribunal first determined the preliminary issue of disability status. It held that the claimant was, at the material time for her complaints, a person with the protected characteristic of disability within section 6 of the Equality Act 2010, by reason of her underactive thyroid. The finding was made on the balance of probabilities after consideration of the claimant's specification and supporting medical records submitted in April 2023.

The tribunal then dealt with the respondent's strike-out application and the claimant's compliance with earlier case management orders. It recorded repeated failure to comply fully with orders requiring specification of the matters relied on and the need to give fair notice of the case. On that basis, the claimant's disability discrimination complaints other than one direct discrimination complaint were struck out under Rules 37(1)(a), (b) and (c), and Rule 38 was also relied on after the extended compliance period expired.

The only complaint that survived was a section 13 Equality Act 2010 direct discrimination claim confined to the allegations listed in paragraph (Second)(a)(i)-(v). Those allegations included the conduct attributed to Mr Mason during the claimant's first week of employment, during her Covid-related absence, the statement that he could not have her off because he had no one to fall back on, the interviewing of other candidates while she was signed off, and the alleged comment on 13 May 2022 that she should not bother to return.

That surviving complaint was remitted to a final hearing in Edinburgh before a full tribunal, with the claimant's evidence restricted to whether the events in those five allegations took place. The tribunal directed that the case file be referred back for listing and for further directions on bundles and the hearing timetable.