Sarah Ismail recently defended a Respondent against claims of race discrimination and perceived disability discrimination.
The Respondent advertised for a Technical Manager job on 10 September 2024, and the Claimant submitted two applications for the role – one in his own name and the other in the name of Jack Brooks (a fictitious applicant). The fictitious applicant was shortlisted for interview and the Claimant was not. The Claimant contacted the Respondent on 2 September 2024 and sought to argue that he was a victim of race discrimination as his application was rejected, whereas his “friend” was invited for interview.
On 18 September 2024, the Respondent informed the Claimant that they preferred the employment history of Jack Brooks and that his experience was more relevant for the role. The Claimant then commenced early conciliation on 19 September 2024 and brought his claims on 10 October 2024.
The Respondent applied to strike out the claims on the basis that they were vexatious and had no reasonable prospects of success. Ms Ismail argued that it was an abuse of process to submit a fabricated CV with the intention of entrapping an employer and commencing Tribunal proceedings. She submitted that the Claimant was a serial litigant who had brought several job application claims in the Employment Tribunal. When confronted by the judge on this issue the Claimant conceded that he had brought “approximately twenty claims” in the last five years.
Ms Ismail further submitted that the two CVs were completely different in form and substance, and that, in any event, the Respondent could not know that Jack Brooks was white. The only person who knew the intended race of Jack Brooks was the Claimant because he had invented him.
The Tribunal agreed with the Respondent and struck out the claims. EJ Arullendran found that the Tribunal does not have the jurisdiction to police the employment sector and should not be used as a tool where one party has been entrapped by the other. She said that there is a proper mechanism for combatting discrimination, filling out and filing an ET 1 within the appropriate time frame, and that it is inappropriate for a Claimant to fabricate fraudulent evidence. If all non-white individuals applying for jobs did this, it would severely affect the functionality of the Tribunal.
Sarah Ismail is an Employment and Discrimination barrister at Trinity Chambers. She was instructed by Theresa Carling of the Endeavour Partnership.