Dr D'Silva lost an employment tribunal claim that, on racial grounds, his trade union (NATFHE, now UCU) had not given him proper assistance in various claims of discrimination he had brought between 2002 and 2005 against his employer, Manchester Metropolitan University. The EAT dismissed his appeal in March 2008.
In December 2008 an employment tribunal awarded 50% costs to the Union (some £37,000). Dr D'Silva appealed to the EAT against that order.
Grounds for the costs appeal were (i) that the employment judge who awarded costs was not the same judge as the one who had heard the case - the reason being ill-health of the original judge (ii) that Dr D'Silva had not been given advance notice of the change of judge; (iii) that the original judgment did not "castigate his claim as having been unreasonable or misconceived or doomed from the start, nor does it criticise the manner in which he or his representative conducted the case"; (iv) a point never previously mentioned, that one of the original tribunal member had fallen asleep during the orginal hearing.