Is it possible for an employment tribunal to make a Deposit Order simply because the Claimant’s case is not clear?
In Tree v South East Coastal Ambulance NHS Trust the EAT held that No, this is not possible.
In this case, where there were claims of direct and indirect disability discrimination, the Employment Judge raised the issue of whether he should make a deposit order. The Claimant was required to deposit £1000 with the tribunal in order to continue with her claim as the Judge felt that she had “little reasonable prospect of success” on the discrimination claims.
The Claimant appealed against the deposit order. In the appeal HHJ Eady QC decided that the Employment Judge had been mistaken in making a deposit order regarding the indirect discrimination claim. It seemed that the way the claim was being put was not entirely clear from the Claim Form, but he held that it was not right to use deposit orders as an alternative to case management orders which should be the correct means of clarifying an unclear case.
Written by
Lorraine Emery
18th September 2017