Mr C Smith v Canal & River Trust — 2021

Employment Judge Wade struck out the claimant's unfair dismissal complaint. The claimant had been asked on 10 September 2021 to show cause why the claim should not be struck out because he did not appear to have two years' qualifying service under section 108 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, or to request a hearing.

In response, the claimant argued that there is no qualifying period for an automatically unfair dismissal claim and that a dismissal related to a protected characteristic would be automatically unfair. The tribunal rejected that submission, stating that section 108(3) ERA 1996 sets out the cases where the two-year qualifying period does not apply, and that dismissal connected with a protected characteristic is not one of them for an unfair dismissal claim.

The tribunal said the claimant could pursue a complaint that the dismissal was unlawful and discriminatory under section 39(2)(c) of the Equality Act 2010, as identified in the annex to the earlier order, but that was a different claim from unfair dismissal under the Employment Rights Act 1996. On that basis, the tribunal held that it had no jurisdiction to consider the unfair dismissal complaint. The reasons note that the claimant's remaining claim were listed for hearing on 22 to 25 March 2022.