Claimant v Ethos Academy Trust
Outcome
Individual claims
This was a preliminary hearing on the claimant's application to strike out part of the respondent's defence. The tribunal refused the strike-out application, finding the respondent had a reasonable prospect of defending the claim on the basis that the conditional offer specified the DBS certificate must be presented to the School Business Manager, which the claimant had not done. The substantive breach of contract claim remains to be determined at a final hearing.
Facts
The claimant accepted a conditional offer of employment from the respondent academy trust. The offer required completion of a DBS check and presentation of the certificate to the School Business Manager. The respondent withdrew the offer on 14 May 2025. The claimant had received a DBS certificate dated 8 May 2025 but had not presented it to Ms Booth as specified in the offer letter. The claimant brought a breach of contract claim arguing a binding contract had been formed.
Decision
The tribunal refused the claimant's application to strike out the respondent's defence relating to the DBS requirement. The judge found that the respondent had a reasonable prospect of success in arguing that the condition had not been met, because the offer letter specifically required presentation of the certificate to the School Business Manager, not merely receipt of the certificate by the claimant.
Practical note
When assessing conditional employment offers, the precise wording of the conditions matters: requiring a DBS certificate to be presented to a specific individual is distinct from simply obtaining the certificate.
Legal authorities cited
Statutes
Case details
- Case number
- 6019763/2025
- Decision date
- 3 September 2025
- Hearing type
- preliminary
- Hearing days
- 1
- Classification
- contested
Respondent
- Sector
- education
- Represented
- Yes
- Rep type
- barrister
Claimant representation
- Represented
- No