Mr A Platt v Joanne Lever — 2023

The claimant presented a claim on 21 April 2023 and stated that he did not have an ACAS Early Conciliation Certificate because he was making an application for interim relief. The hearing took place by video on 26 May 2023 before Employment Judge Dunlop. Neither party attended, and the judge proceeded in their absence under Rule 47 of the Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure 2013 because an interim relief application should be determined as soon as practicable.

The tribunal applied the interim relief test, asking whether it was likely that the claimant would ultimately be found to have been dismissed for a proscribed reason, namely that he had made a protected disclosure within the meaning of s.129(1)(a) ERA 1996. On the material in the claim form, the judge was not able to make that finding. There was no clear statement of the disclosure said to have been made, so the tribunal could not assess whether it would meet the requirements of s.43B ERA 1996.

The tribunal also noted that the claim form referred to another possible reason for dismissal, namely complaints made against the claimant by others. For that reason, the application for interim relief failed. The judgment records that the claims will proceed to a preliminary hearing, so the underlying claim was not finally determined in this decision.