In person For the v Mr Brown, Solicitor — 2019

The claimant brought a complaint of unfair dismissal against Stripe Payments UK Ltd. At the open preliminary hearing on 16 October 2019 before Employment Judge Brown, she accepted that she was not an employee of the respondent, that the respondent only provided payroll services, and that her employer was a different company. Her case was that Stripe had not accepted her as a client of its services and that this affected her ability to remain in work with her employer.

The tribunal held that the right not to be unfairly dismissed under section 94 Employment Rights Act 1996 applies only to employees. Because there was no dispute of fact and the claimant was not in any employment relationship with the respondent, the tribunal found that the unfair dismissal claim had no reasonable prospects of success. It therefore struck out the claim under rule 37(1) of the Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure 2013.

The judgment cited the high threshold for strike out and the authorities of Teeside Public Transport Company Limited (T/a Travel Dundee) v Reilly, Balls v Downham Market High School & College, A v B, and North Glamorgan NHS Trust v Ezsias when explaining that strike out should be used only in rare circumstances. No monetary award was made.