Terence Hancox v Kenneth Sutherland & Ors

Facts

The appellant worked for the National Farmers' Union as a facility services handyperson, initially as an agency worker and then as an employee, from late 2019 until his dismissal on 7 February 2020. He said he had uncovered serious health and safety breaches amounting to protected disclosures, and brought claims of detriment, automatic unfair dismissal, ordinary unfair dismissal and disability discrimination, referring to his mental health and to having been signed off with anxiety and depression. The respondents' case was that he was dismissed for misconduct during his probationary period. His main claim against the NFU was presented on 14 February 2020; the claim with which this appeal is concerned was brought on 15 June 2020 against five individuals, one of whom was later withdrawn against. Employment Judge Lloyd struck out the claims under rule 37 contained within Schedule 1 of the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2013, finding that the appellant had conducted the proceedings scandalously, unreasonably and vexatiously through a LinkedIn campaign against the NFU and the individual respondents, and that a fair trial was no longer possible. The appellant appealed; following a rule 3(10) hearing before HHJ Tayler the matter was listed for an inter partes preliminary hearing, at which the appellant relied on a 300-page ChatGPT-generated skeleton argument.