Mr S Sharma v Ensbury Gaff Ltd and 2 others — 2026

The claimant, Mr S Sharma, brought a claim of disability discrimination against Ensbury Gaff Ltd and two named individual respondents. The particulars of claim ran to 39 pages and the tribunal found them prolix. Across a series of case management steps, the claimant was directed to provide an adequate list of issues and a disability impact statement; he did not comply with those directions, and an earlier hearing on 8 October 2025 was adjourned in part for that reason. The hearing listed for 14 January 2026 also could not proceed: the claimant's solicitors wrote at 09:24 on the morning of the hearing seeking conversion to a video hearing and stating the claimant was no longer pursuing the disability discrimination claim, without giving reasons. Employment Judge Dawson refused to convert the hearing to CVP and adjourned the case.

The disability discrimination claim was dismissed upon withdrawal. The tribunal recorded that simply withdrawing a claim is not, of itself, unreasonable behaviour, but found that pursuing the disability discrimination claim while showing no intention of serving evidence that the claimant was disabled, despite three specific opportunities to serve a disability impact statement, was unreasonable conduct. The tribunal also found that the claimant's conduct in the lead-up to the 8 October 2025 hearing, including failure to provide an adequate list of issues and the disability impact statement, amounted to unreasonable conduct of the proceedings, and that the late application on the morning of 14 January 2026 caused that hearing to be adjourned.

The tribunal exercised its discretion to order the claimant to pay the respondents' costs thrown away as a result of the adjournments on 14 January 2026 and 8 October 2026, and the costs of defending the disability discrimination claim. The assessment of the amount of costs was adjourned to be decided on paper by Employment Judge Dawson, with directions given for the respondents to file a costs schedule and the claimant to file any submissions in response.