Mr P Weston v Yunex Ltd — 2025

This was a preliminary hearing before Employment Judge Cadney at Bristol on 19 August 2025 to determine an amendment application by the claimant and a strike-out application by the respondent. The judge granted the claimant's application to amend to include allegations of age-related harassment under s.26 of the Equality Act 2010.

The judge dismissed the respondent's application to strike out the claimant's public interest disclosure detriment and automatic unfair dismissal claims. The respondent had argued that the disclosures relied on (emails and letters from 2020, 2022 and 2023 concerning the IKOS patent and the claimant's asserted right to be identified as inventor and to purchase the patent for 1 euro) did not amount to protected disclosures because they were private matters with no public interest content. The judge concluded that the arguments were finely balanced and that, at this relatively early stage and before evidence was heard, it could not be said there was no reasonable prospect of the final tribunal accepting the claimant's case that he reasonably believed the disclosures were in the public interest.

No substantive findings were made on the underlying claims and no remedy was awarded. Agreed case management directions for the final hearing are set out in a separate case management order.