Claimant v Dolce Limited
Outcome
Individual claims
The claim was struck out because the claimant failed to complete the mandatory Early Conciliation process before issuing the claim. The tribunal determined it would not be just to waive this requirement under rule 6, as the claimant was aware of the Early Conciliation requirement from a previous claim and was capable of understanding the process.
The disability discrimination claim was struck out for the same reason as the detriment claim: failure to comply with the statutory requirement to start Early Conciliation. The exemption from Early Conciliation only applied to the unfair dismissal claim with interim relief application, not to the discrimination claim.
Facts
The claimant was dismissed on 2 October 2023 and immediately filed a claim for unfair dismissal with an interim relief application, along with claims for whistleblowing detriment and disability discrimination. She did not complete Early Conciliation for the detriment and discrimination claims, believing the interim relief exemption applied to all claims. The respondent applied to strike out the detriment and discrimination claims for failure to comply with the Early Conciliation requirement.
Decision
The tribunal struck out both the whistleblowing detriment claim and the disability discrimination claim because the claimant had failed to complete the mandatory Early Conciliation process. The tribunal declined to exercise its discretion under rule 6 to waive the requirement, finding that the claimant, who had previously filed a claim after Early Conciliation, was capable of understanding the process and should have started it for these claims.
Practical note
The Early Conciliation exemption for interim relief applications under s.128 ERA 1996 applies only to the unfair dismissal claim itself, not to other claims filed on the same claim form, which must each undergo separate Early Conciliation.
Legal authorities cited
Statutes
Case details
- Case number
- 2409694/2023
- Decision date
- 1 July 2024
- Hearing type
- strike out
- Hearing days
- 1
- Classification
- procedural
Respondent
- Name
- Dolce Limited
- Sector
- hospitality
- Represented
- Yes
- Rep type
- barrister
Claimant representation
- Represented
- No