Mr C Phillips v Tata Steel UK Limited — 2023

Mr Phillips brought two identical unfair dismissal claims against Tata Steel UK Limited on 23 June 2022. On 4 April 2023 ACAS notified the Tribunal that the claims had settled, and later that day the claimant's solicitor emailed that the claims were being withdrawn and that Mr Phillips consented to dismissal under Rule 52. Mr Phillips then wrote to the Tribunal disputing the legality of the COT3 settlement and saying, in substance, that he had not agreed all of its terms.

A preliminary hearing was held to consider whether the Tribunal should issue a dismissal judgment. The judge treated Judge Brace's earlier decision not to issue such a judgment as a case management order capable of being revisited under Rule 29 if there had been a material change of circumstances. The judge accepted that the fuller explanation from Mr Phillips and the Respondent's objections amounted to such a change, so the question of dismissal on withdrawal was reconsidered.

Applying the authorities on ostensible authority, including Freeman v Sovereign Chicken Limited, the Tribunal held that Mr Phillips's solicitors had authority to negotiate and enter the COT3 on his behalf. The judge noted the claimant's complaints that he had been given little time, had expected a positive reference, and objected to confidentiality and non-derogatory clauses, but concluded that those were not matters that prevented the settlement from binding him in the Employment Tribunal. The judge distinguished Cole v Elders' Voice and found it was in the interests of justice to issue judgments dismissing both claims on withdrawal.