Mr S Wright v Respondent — 2022

Mr S Wright was employed by Long O Donnell Associates Ltd from 13 September 2021 until his dismissal, effective on 6 April 2022. The live issue on this preliminary decision was a breach of contract claim: the claimant said he was entitled to three months' notice, while the respondent said the relevant contractual provision gave only one week's notice in the circumstances of termination. The tribunal also recorded that the claimant had brought a redundancy payment claim, but that claim had been dismissed on withdrawal.

The respondent applied to strike out the breach of contract claim under rule 37(1)(a) of the Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure 2013, relying on the arguments that the claim had no reasonable prospect of success and, alternatively, that it was scandalous or vexatious. The claimant opposed the application in writing. The tribunal determined the application on the papers because the claimant did not request a hearing.

On the facts identified for the application, the tribunal noted two disputed issues that would require evidence: what the contractual notice terms were, including whether any later agreement had varied the written contract, and whether the dismissal resulted from redundancy. The tribunal referred to Cox v Adecco and stated that where reasonable prospect depends on disputed factual issues, strike out is highly unlikely to be appropriate. Taken at its highest, the claimant's case could succeed, so the tribunal found that the breach of contract claim had reasonable prospects of success and refused the strike-out application. The case was to proceed to a final hearing.