'Serial litigant' | The worker who has fought 54 tribunals in 10 years

Employment tribunals exist for a reason. They are there to give workers a fair route to challenge discrimination, unfair dismissal and mistreatment at work. For most claimants, bringing a case is a serious step, often taken as a last resort.

But in a striking judgment handed down this month, an employment judge has ruled that one claimant’s latest case should be struck out entirely after finding it formed part of a long pattern of vexatious litigation - and that it was his 54th tribunal claim.

The case of Joseph Johnson v London Borough of Harrow was dismissed in full after the tribunal concluded it was “scandalous or vexatious” and had “no reasonable prospect of success”.

Claim struck out at preliminary hearing

The decision was issued following a public preliminary hearing at Watford Employment Tribunal in July 2025, before Employment Judge Rakhim.