A v Southern Electric Power Distribution plc: 1403164/2020
| Judgment Date | 14 January 2022 |
| Citation | 1403164/2020 |
| Date | 14 January 2022 |
| Published date | 28 March 2022 |
| Court | Employment Tribunal |
| Subject Matter | Disability Discrimination |
Case Number: 1403164/2020
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EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS
Claimant: A
Respondent: Southern Electric Power Distribution PLC
RECORD OF A PRELIMINARY HEARING
Heard at: Southampton (by CVP) On: 10, 11, 12, 13 (in chambers) January
2022
Before: Employment Judge Dawson, Ms Goddard, Mr Spry Shute
Appearances
For the Claimant: Mr Wheaton, counsel
For the Respondent: Mr Stirrat, solicitor
RESERVED JUDGMENT AND ORDERS
1) The claimant’s claims are dismissed
2) Pursuant to rule 50(3)(c) of the Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure 2013,
this judgment and the written reasons for it and any other document entered onto
the register shall be anonymised so that the claimant cannot be identified. In
order to ensure that the claimant cannot be identified her colleagues will also
have their identities anonymised to the extent necessary.
REASONS
Case Number: 1403164/2020
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Introduction
1. The claimant brings claims of disability discrimination pursuant to sections 15, 19
and 21 Equality Act 2010 and claims of harassment related to sex and on the
basis of unwanted conduct of a sexual nature pursuant to section 26 Equality Act
2010.
2. The claimant commenced employment for the respondent on 26 August 2019 as
an Administrator. She was based at the New Forest depot and also worked from
the Poole office.
3. It is admitted by the respondent that whilst she was employed by it, the claimant
was disabled by reason of persistent delusional disorder.
4. The hearing took place between 10th and 13 January 2022 (the final day being
when the members of the tribunal met to reach their decision). The claimant and
the respondent were both represented and we were grateful to both advocates for
the care and professional skill they exhibited in presenting their respective clients’
cases in a difficult case.
5. The decision was reserved rather than given orally at the request of the claimant
and with the consent of the respondent.
Issues
6. The issues were recorded in some detail at the hearing on 3 February 2021. The
tribunal went through the list of issues, again in some detail, at the outset of this
hearing and both parties confirmed that the issues remained the same. Neither
party sought to vary the issues throughout the hearing. They are set out in the
annex to these Reasons.
Orders pursuant to Rule 50
7. In the course of the hearing, the claimant made reference to having been raped
and her belief that her colleagues within the respondent were planning to rape
her. Many of the allegations she makes in this case are of a sexual nature and
those allegations as well as her disability engage article 8 of the European
Convention on Human Rights.
8. At the end of the hearing both parties sought orders anonymising both the claimant
and;
8.1 those against whom she had made allegations and
8.2 others involved in the case,
where the identification of those persons would assist in the identification of the
claimant.
9. The respondent submitted that, in any event, it sought anonymisation of all
persons against whom the claimant had made allegations due to the nature of the
allegations against those people.
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