Chapman: ET cannot accept discrimination claim with blank particulars

Note: this appeal was decided under the old 2013 rules of procedure. The language of rule 12 of the 2013 Rules is now found in rule 13 of the Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure 2024)

Case Name & Citation
The Scottish Ambulance Service Board v Chapman [2025] EAT 164 Lady Haldane, 2025[MS1] 

Here the Claimant submitted an ET1 alleging disability discrimination by ticking box 8.1, but included no particulars at all in section 8.2. The Tribunal accepted the claim and issued case-management directions. The respondent appealed.

Legal Issue
The issue was whether an ET can accept a claim and issue directions where an ET1 alleges discrimination but contains no particulars, and whether Rule 12(1)(b) requires mandatory referral to a Judge.

“Where the Tribunal receives a claim which may not be in a form which can sensibly be responded to, the staff shall refer the claim to an Employment Judge.”(Rule 12(1)(b), emphasised by the EAT)

Key Legal Principle
A bare allegation of disability discrimination with no factual particulars triggers the old rule Rule 12. A tribunal must not treat such a claim as valid and must not issue case-management orders until an EJ has confirmed compliance.

EAT upheld that the ET erred by:

1. Accepting the ET1 without Rule 12 referral, and
2. Proceeding to case-manage without ensuring the claim could sensibly be answered.

Tribunal Approach / Framework
Mandatory Rule 12 Sequence

1. Is the ET1 in a form that can sensibly be responded to?
2. If not, referral to EJ is mandatory(Rule 12(1)(b))
3. EJ must determine whether claim proceeds
4. Only after that can case-management orders be issued

“The Tribunal could not rely on later directions to cure an initial jurisdictional defect.”

Key considerations

1. More than a tick-box allegation is required in discrimination claims.
2. Trustee of William Jones’s Schools Foundation v Parry [2018] ICR 1807  applied: Rule 12 threshold varies by claim type.
3. Lack of particulars is not automatically an amendment issue.

Statutory / Procedural Provisions
Employment Tribunals Act 1996

Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure 2013:

- Rule 12(1)(b)(referral if not sensibly responded to)

- Rule 12(2)(Judge decision on acceptance)

Notes / Pitfalls
“A wholesale absence of particulars is materially different from mere lack of detail.”

“Case-management cannot precede jurisdictional confirmation.”

11th Nov 2025

Michael Salter

Call 1999