EAT Practice and Procedure : Striking-Out or Dismissal – The Employment Tribunal dismissed the Claimant’s claim for race discrimination. It then made an award for costs against the Claimant in the sum of andpound;8,900, which represented part of the Respondent’s costs. It did so because it considered that the Claimant had put forward false evidence. It therefore concluded that the Claimant had conducted the proceedings unreasonably and said that it was as simple as that.
Held, The Tribunal had misdirected itself in its approach to the exercise of its discretion on costs, because it considered that the simple fact that the Claimant had lied meant that she had conducted the proceedings unreasonably. It should have considered all the circumstances of the case, including the procedural history and the extent to which the Claimant’s lies had made a material impact on its actual findings. The case would therefore be remitted to the Employment Tribunal to be reconsidered according to the correct approach in law. It was not necessary in the interests of justice in this case to remit to a differently constituted Tribunal because this Tribunal was already familiar with the evidence which it had heard at a hearing lasting some 5 days.
Singh J
[2013] UKEAT 0352 – 13 – 1212
Bailii
England and Wales
Employment
Updated: 01 December 2021; Ref: scu.522366
