A Kemp (sitting alone) Mr B Cochrane v Meallmore Limited — 2019

At a preliminary hearing in Aberdeen on 18 April 2019, Employment Judge Alexander Kemp, sitting alone, struck out the claimant's s.15 discrimination arising from disability claim and his reasonable-adjustments claims under ss.20-21 Equality Act 2010 by consent. He also struck out the references to ss.14 and 22 of the Act, noting that s.14 was not in force and s.22 only permitted regulations. The remaining claims of direct disability discrimination under s.13, indirect sex discrimination under s.19, and dismissal in respect of a protected disclosure under s.103A ERA 1996 were left to proceed.

The judge refused the claimant's application to strike out the respondent's response and his alternative application for a deposit order. He held that the response could be clarified or amended, that the allegations were not scandalous or vexatious within their legal meanings, and that the dispute about what was said, in what context, and why the claimant was dismissed was a factual dispute that had to be resolved by evidence.

Applying Rule 37 and Rule 39, together with the caution in discrimination and protected-disclosure cases against striking out disputed facts too early, the judge found neither no reasonable prospect nor little reasonable prospect of success. He noted that the claimant had not shown an entitlement to unfair dismissal because he lacked the necessary service, but that did not resolve the factual dispute over the stated reason for dismissal. No remedy was awarded in this judgment; the parties were directed to await the GP report and then decide what further procedure was appropriate.