Mr D McCulloch v Jacobs E&C Ltd — 2019

Mr McCulloch entered Early Conciliation on 11 December 2018 and presented his claim form on 12 December 2018. The form recorded an incorrect Early Conciliation reference number in box 2.3. Tribunal staff later asked him to provide the correct number; although he subsequently provided a copy of the certificate showing the correct reference, the claim had already been accepted on 16 January 2019.

At the preliminary hearing on 20 August 2019, the respondent submitted that the tribunal was obliged to reject the claim form under Rule 12(1)(c) of the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2013 because the number on the claim form was inaccurate. The tribunal accepted that submission, relying on Sterling v United Learning Trust and E.on Control Solutions Ltd v Caspall, and held that the rule required rejection once the incorrect number was identified.

The tribunal held that Rule 12(2A) did not assist where the claim form contained an inaccurate Early Conciliation number. It also held that Rule 6 did not preserve the claim, that Rule 29 could not be used to amend the claim form because there were no proceedings once the claim had been rejected, and that the overriding objective in Rule 2 did not permit the tribunal to ignore the mandatory requirements of the rules. The claim form was therefore rejected and no substantive employment claims were decided.