Mr Ronald DeSouza v C & P Security Products Limited — 2021

Mr Ronald DeSouza was employed by C & P Security Products Limited as a Fabricator Welder from 4 August 2014 until 19 March 2019. He presented an ET1 on 3 April 2019 alleging unfair dismissal, disability discrimination and notice pay. The hearing before Employment Judge Sekhon was a preliminary hearing on whether the claim could continue, because the respondent said the dispute had been settled through ACAS and that the Tribunal therefore had no jurisdiction.

The Tribunal found that settlement discussions took place at a disciplinary appeal meeting on 19 March 2019, where the respondent made an improved offer of £AAA after an earlier offer of £BBB had been rejected. It accepted that the claimant then exchanged emails with ACAS conciliator Ms Valerie Donovan on 20 March 2019, including amendments to the draft COT3, and that Ms Donovan subsequently sent a COT3 stating that the terms of settlement had been agreed. The claimant's letter of 21 March 2019 was read as accepting the cash tax-free offer of £AAA subject to the draft COT3, whereas his later letter of 24 March 2019 was treated as an attempt to renegotiate the deal after the agreement had already been made.

The Tribunal held that there was a genuine, valid and binding agreement reached between the parties through the phone call and email correspondence on 20 March 2019. It found that a signed COT3 was not required for enforceability, relied on the statutory settlement provisions in s.203(2)(e) ERA 1996 and s.144(4)(a) EqA 2010, and rejected any suggestion of duress on the evidence before it. Because the claims had been validly settled, the Tribunal held that it had no jurisdiction to permit the proceedings to continue and dismissed the claim.