Mr L Parkin v Heron Foods Limited — 2022

Mr Parkin started work for Heron Foods Limited on 21 March 2022 as a Warehouse Operative on a nine-month probationary period. The respondent said he was dismissed on 17 May 2022, and the dismissal letter of 19 May 2022 referred to concerns about absence levels. The claimant accepted that he did not have two years' continuous service. He said he had mental health and anxiety difficulties, that he had told the respondent about them, and that some of his absences and other complaints were linked to that condition.

The tribunal struck out the unfair dismissal claim because the ordinary statutory right under ss.94-98 ERA 1996 was not available without two years' service and none of the statutory exceptions in s.108 were relied on. It also struck out the direct disability discrimination claim under s.13 EA 2010. The tribunal said the claimant did not clearly say he was dismissed because of disability itself, and on his own account the dismissal was said to be connected with absences, a transfer request and a grievance rather than disability as such.

The tribunal did not strike out the s.15 discrimination arising from disability claim. It accepted that the claimant might be disabled and that the respondent may have known of the condition, but the evidence needed testing on whether the later absence was disability-related, how far that absence was a focal point in the dismissal decision, and whether dismissal could be objectively justified. Because the claim appeared weak but not hopeless, the tribunal ordered a £100 deposit, having regard to the claimant's means.

The tribunal also noted there was no discernible victimisation claim on the claim form, and that the grievance and email relied on did not clearly amount to protected acts under s.27(2) EA 2010. It mentioned the claimant's references to public return-to-work meetings, a hairstyle remark, and Mr Morton allegedly laughing at him, but did not treat those matters as pleaded claims in this reserved judgment.