Ms L Butters (First Claimant) Mr S Halifax (Second Claimant) Mr A Smith (Third Claimant) v Leeds City Council — 2024

The Tribunal recorded that the first claimant was the only claimant who specified grounds in the claim form and in a letter delivered before the hearing. She said the matter related to treatment towards the end of her employment and maintained that it was not safe to do her job. The respondent had a resignation letter dated 17 October 2023 giving two weeks' notice from 16 October 2023 and giving no reasons for resignation. The Tribunal explained the nature of constructive dismissal and what was required to prove it.

The Tribunal also noted that the first claimant's claim was presented out of time. Her effective date of termination was 27 October 2023, she began early conciliation on 15 February 2024, received her certificate on 19 February 2024, and presented the claim on 28 February 2024. The first claimant said she had sought help from her union and later from the job centre, where she was advised to contact ACAS, but the Tribunal recorded that she did not act for approximately one month after that visit.

For the second and third claimants, the Tribunal found that their claims were separate from the first claimant's claim and were not part of the same dispute. They therefore could not rely on the early conciliation exemption for multiple claimants on the same claim form. Because they had not entered early conciliation and had given no facts or indication of what their claims might be, the Tribunal considered it just to strike out their claims.