Claimant v Cegedim E-Business Ltd
Outcome
Individual claims
Struck out on grounds of no reasonable prospect of success. The tribunal found that the claimant had no reasonable prospect of establishing that he made protected disclosures (no reasonable belief disclosures were in the public interest; matters concerned private grievances). Without protected disclosures, the reason for dismissal could not have been the making of protected disclosures.
Struck out on grounds of no reasonable prospect of success. Because the tribunal found the claimant had no reasonable prospect of establishing he made protected disclosures, it necessarily followed he had no reasonable prospect of succeeding in complaints of detrimental treatment on the grounds of making protected disclosures.
Strike out application refused. While the claimant had not yet identified facts from which the tribunal could conclude treatment was because of race, discrimination cases are fact-sensitive and evidence may emerge at hearing. The tribunal concluded the claim had little reasonable prospect of success and made a deposit order, but did not strike it out.
Strike out application refused. The tribunal found potential difficulties in establishing the PCPs and group disadvantage, but could not conclude on limited information that there was no reasonable prospect of success. The tribunal concluded the claim had little reasonable prospect of success and made a deposit order, but did not strike it out.
Facts
The claimant, a Black Nigerian African software tester with less than two years' service, complained about a dog being brought into the office in August 2023 and objected to making voice recordings when analysing software. He sent a lengthy letter on 29 September 2023 which was ambiguous about whether he was resigning or requesting garden leave and severance negotiations. The respondent treated this as a resignation and confirmed this by letter dated 2 October 2023. The claimant had less than two years' service and brought claims of automatic unfair dismissal (protected disclosure), protected disclosure detriment, and direct and indirect race discrimination.
Decision
The tribunal struck out the unfair dismissal and protected disclosure detriment claims on grounds of no reasonable prospect of success, finding the claimant could not establish he made protected disclosures (the matters were private grievances, not in the public interest). The discrimination claims were not struck out but were made subject to deposit orders as having little reasonable prospect of success, as the claimant had not identified facts from which race could be inferred as a reason for treatment.
Practical note
Even grievances relating to cultural differences (attitudes to dogs, concerns about accent) will not constitute protected disclosures unless there is a reasonable belief they are made in the public interest rather than being purely personal complaints.
Legal authorities cited
Statutes
Case details
- Case number
- 2411944/2023
- Decision date
- 2 February 2025
- Hearing type
- strike out
- Hearing days
- 1
- Classification
- procedural
Respondent
- Sector
- technology
- Represented
- Yes
- Rep type
- barrister
Employment details
- Role
- Software Testing role
Claimant representation
- Represented
- No