E.T. Z (WR) EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS (SCOTLAND) Case No: 4107637/20215 Held on November 2021 Employment Judge J M Hendry Mr A Voinea v Interpreter Mr C Tondor Caledonian Logistics Ltd — 2021

Mr Voinea lodged his ET1 in February 2021 before his dismissal and later asked to add the dismissal to the case. At the preliminary hearing the tribunal accepted that he had tried to comply with earlier orders for better and further particulars, that he had lacked interpreter support at earlier hearings, and that strike out for breach of order would be disproportionate. The judge applied Selkent and allowed amendment of the ET1 to include unfair dismissal.

On unfair dismissal, the tribunal did not decide the merits but held that the claim was arguable and should proceed to a hearing. The claimant’s case was that he had been moved off an ARTIC driving route after a dispute with a customer, had been offered class 2 or warehouse work, and was later dismissed following an incident involving a forklift truck. The judge noted the claimant’s position that other drivers had done similar things and that CCTV might be relevant, but made no findings on liability.

On disability discrimination, the tribunal recorded that disability was conceded. It struck out the section 15 claim concerning non-payment of breaks because the pleadings gave no reasonable prospect of success. The remaining discrimination claims were not struck out: the reasonable adjustment claim about allowing him to continue as an ARTIC driver on another route was allowed to proceed out of time, but was made subject to a £100 deposit order, and the direct discrimination claim about unpaid breaks was also made subject to a £100 deposit order because it had little reasonable prospect of success. No substantive remedy was awarded in this judgment.