Sebastian Krueger v Stanhay Webb Ltd — 2023

Employment Judge Adkinson, sitting alone and considering the papers, struck out the whole of Sebastian Krueger's claim against Stanhay Webb Ltd on 12 April 2023. The tribunal held that the claim had no reasonable prospect of success under rule 37(1)(a) because the claim form was incomprehensible and did not set out any basis for the claims that had been ticked.

The claimant was given an opportunity on 4 April 2023 to explain why strike out should not happen, and he replied on 10 April 2023. The tribunal found that response did not clarify the claims in any way. The claimant also exhibited messages from his phone, but they were in a foreign language, untranslated, and therefore not comprehensible. The tribunal noted that it provides interpreters for hearings but not translators for work outside hearings, which is the party's responsibility.

The judge accepted that tribunals should be slow to strike out discrimination and whistleblowing claims, and also should be slow to strike out unfair dismissal claims because they are fact-sensitive. However, the judgment said there was nothing set out that explained the basis of any discrimination or whistleblowing claim, and it was not even clear whether the claimant alleged dismissal or why any dismissal was said to be unfair. The tribunal decided that a preliminary hearing to seek clarification would not be appropriate because the respondent and tribunal would have no idea what the case was about, a fair trial was not possible, and no lesser sanction was appropriate.