Mr B Dodds v Genial Associates Limited & Ors. OPEN PRELIMINARY HEARING — 2021

The tribunal found that Mr Dodds was employed initially by Brighton Language Centre Ltd and later, with continuity of employment, by West Beach Hotel Ltd, both under the control of Marcello Sarno. Genial Associates Ltd held the freehold of the hotel but was not the claimant's employer. The tribunal accepted that the claimant's May 2019 resignation was withdrawn and treated as having been accepted by the respondent's conduct.

The tribunal found that the effective date of termination was 23 October 2019, when settlement negotiations broke down, and rejected the claimant's case that employment ended on a later date. It discounted the backdated P45 showing 15 September 2019 and held that there was no evidence to support that date. On that basis, the claims against West Beach Hotel Ltd for unfair dismissal, TUPE consultation failures and money claims were out of time, although the tribunal found it had been reasonably practicable to bring them in time.

On the respondent identity issue, the tribunal found that Genial Associates Ltd was never the employer, and it dismissed the claim against Brighton Language School Ltd. It also found that the claimant knew who his employer was from his payslips and had chosen to claim against Genial Associates Ltd because he considered recovery prospects better. The age and race discrimination claims were also out of time, and the tribunal refused to extend time on the just and equitable basis. All claims were therefore dismissed.