Miss D Powell v Mobili Office Limited — 2020

At a telephone preliminary hearing in Sheffield on 10 August 2020, Employment Judge Brain found that Miss D Powell had been employed by Mobili Office Limited from 26 February 2018 to 31 December 2019. Because that period was less than two years, the claimant did not have the necessary qualifying service to bring an ordinary unfair dismissal complaint under section 94 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, and that complaint was dismissed.

The tribunal also considered the claimant's complaints that she had been constructively dismissed for making a protected disclosure and/or for bringing to the respondent's attention circumstances connected with work which she reasonably believed were harmful or potentially harmful to health and safety. It treated those as automatic unfair dismissal complaints, but dismissed them because they had no reasonable prospect of success and because there was no evidence that the respondent had acted in fundamental breach of contract because of any protected disclosure or health and safety disclosure made in late November 2018. No remedy was awarded.