Miss J Barnard First v Gadgets, Games & Gifts Limited Second Respondent: Jason Gattiker Third Respondent: Pink Planet Games Exchange Limited Fourth Respondent: Phantom Moon Limited — 2023

At a private telephone hearing in Bristol on 10 October 2023 before Employment Judge Lambert, the tribunal dealt with strike-out issues arising from the Claimant's pleaded claims. It struck out the claims against the Third and Fourth Respondents under Rule 37(1)(a) of the ET Rules 2013 because the Claimant accepted that she had never been employed by either of those entities.

The tribunal also struck out the Claimant's marriage discrimination claim against the Second Respondent. The Claimant clarified that the complaint was based on her daughter's marriage to the Second Respondent, and the tribunal held that section 13(4) of the Equality Act 2010 does not permit associative discrimination on the protected characteristic of marriage. The judgment noted that this was the only claim being pursued against the Second Respondent, so the claim as framed continued only against the First Respondent, the Claimant's employer.

The judgment records that the Claimant's claims for unpaid holiday pay, unpaid wages for January, February and March 2023, and failure to pay a statutory redundancy payment were unaffected by this decision and would continue.