The Claimant brought claims of unfair dismissal, race discrimination, religion or belief discrimination, and for holiday pay, arrears of pay and “other payments” to the ET. The Respondent failed to respond in time and the Claimant's claims were successful. Although the ET did not award him all the compensation he claimed in his schedule of loss, it was still substantial, amounting to nearly £3.5m. The Respondent was granted an extension of time to enter a response which also had the effect of setting aside the previous decision. The Claimant appealed on the basis of apparent bias and unfair conduct at two preliminary hearings.

The EAT dismissed the appeal. It could not see how it could be properly said, robust though the comments from the EJ were, that they would lead a fair-minded and informed observer, having considered the facts, to conclude that there was a real possibility that the tribunal was biased.