Mrs B Lubanska v Ideal Recruit Ltd — 2023

At a Preliminary Hearing on 17 January 2023, the Tribunal told Mrs B Lubanska that it proposed to strike out her unfair dismissal claim because she had not completed the two years' service normally required to bring such a claim. The claimant was given until 7 February 2023 to comment on that proposal.

In response, the claimant said she believed she could bring the claim because she had been dismissed after being deprived of a right to be accompanied at a disciplinary hearing and of access to the respondent's disciplinary rules and procedures. The Tribunal considered section 104 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, but held that the right to be accompanied at a disciplinary hearing under sections 10 and 11 of the Employment Relations Act 1999 is not one of the relevant statutory rights relied on by section 104.

The Tribunal also considered section 12 of the Employment Relations Act 1999. It found that, on the information provided, the claimant had not requested to be accompanied by a co-worker or trade union official, and the respondent had not refused such accompaniment. The postponement she sought was so that she could be accompanied by a legal representative and an interpreter. The claim was therefore struck out as having no reasonable prospect of success because the claimant had not completed the service needed to qualify to bring an ordinary unfair dismissal claim.