Claimant v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Sexual harassment claims dated 12 May 2022 (incidents 1-18) struck out as scandalous or vexatious and having no reasonable prospect of success. The covert recordings did not support the claimant's transcripts, the claimant was not named in most incidents, and the claims were well out of time having not been raised in the July 2022 grievance.

Claims of harassment on grounds of protected belief dated 24 March 2023 (incidents 19-26) not struck out but deposit orders made as they have little reasonable prospect of success. Claims dated 26 May 2023 (incidents 32-36), 7 July 2023 (incidents 37-39), and 8 August 2023 (incidents 40-42) struck out as scandalous or vexatious with no reasonable prospect of success given reliance on recordings of unnamed colleagues and respondent prejudice.

Direct sex discrimination claim struck out under Rule 38(1)(a) as scandalous or vexatious and having no reasonable prospect of success. The claimant relied on an actual comparator (Dave Jones) who was also male, which made no sense and had no prospect of establishing less favourable treatment on grounds of sex.

Direct discrimination on grounds of protected political belief not struck out but deposit order made as the claim has little reasonable prospect of success. The claimant is unlikely to discharge the burden of proving his comparator Dave Jones is in materially similar circumstances aside from political belief, given the paucity of evidence and inadequate recordings.

All victimisation claims struck out or made subject to deposit orders. The claimant's grievance dated 15 July 2022 made no reference to discrimination allegations and alleged only bullying and management issues. The claimant has little reasonable prospect of establishing he did a protected act or that subsequent treatment was because of it.

Constructive unfair dismissal claim not struck out but deposit order made as it has little reasonable prospect of success. The claimant has little reasonable prospect of establishing a cumulative breach, that he did not delay resigning after the last alleged breach, or that the allegations from 12 May 2022 onwards can form part of a continuing course of conduct given the move to a new office with different colleagues.