Mr S Scott v Lou Macari — 2023

The tribunal said the case raised a single complaint of unfair dismissal. It found that Mr S Scott had not been continuously employed for two years ending with the effective date of termination, so the general qualifying period in section 108 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 prevented the claim unless an exception applied.

The tribunal considered the statutory exceptions in section 108 and found that none appeared to apply. It also recorded that section 18A(8) of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 required an ACAS early conciliation certificate for relevant proceedings, including unfair dismissal claims, and that Mr Scott did not have such a certificate when he presented the claim.

Mr Scott had ticked a box stating that the respondent had already been in touch with ACAS, but the tribunal held that this was not enough to satisfy the exception in section 18A(8). It said he needed to show that the respondent had contacted ACAS and noted that he had not provided evidence of that despite being asked to do so.

After giving the claimant an opportunity by letter dated 25 March 2022 to explain why the claim should not be struck out, and receiving no reply, the tribunal struck out the claim under Rule 37 of the Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure 2013.