Mr N Lewis v Creativevents Limited — 2021

At a preliminary hearing on 10 June 2021, Employment Judge Nicklin considered the respondent's application to dismiss two sets of proceedings, case 2206882/2020 and case 2200088/2021. The claimant had worked as a driver for the respondent from 1 July 2010 until a disputed end date in 2020. In the first claim he advanced unfair dismissal, notice pay and redundancy payment complaints; in the second he advanced a redundancy payment complaint said to be protective because the limitation period was running.

The tribunal rejected the respondent's case that the claims had been brought against the wrong entity in a way that deprived the tribunal of jurisdiction. It found that the claimant always intended to bring proceedings against his employer, Creativevents Limited, and that naming 'Creative Events Limited' on the ACAS certificates and claim forms was a genuine mistake rather than a misleading attempt to sue a different company. The judge also held that the address errors were minor, that the second claim had in fact been received and brought to the respondent's attention, and that the early conciliation material was sufficient.

Applying the overriding objective and the authorities on minor errors and substitution, including Rule 34, Cocking and Selkent, the tribunal ordered substitution of Creativevents Limited for Creative Events Limited in both claims. The respondent's application dated 20 April 2021 was dismissed. The judgment does not decide whether the claimant was dismissed on 31 July 2020 or resigned under notice with effect from 4 September 2020, and it makes no substantive findings on the unfair dismissal, notice pay or redundancy payment complaints, which were allowed to proceed to a full merits hearing.