Mr J Hubbard v Mr John Stanley and 2 others — 2021

At this public preliminary hearing, Employment Judge Morris sitting alone held that Mr Stanley was the claimant's only employer. On that basis, the claimant's complaints against the second respondent, Farriers Registration Council, and the third respondent, National Farriery Training Agency, were not well-founded and were dismissed.

The tribunal found it more likely than not that the claimant had signed and returned the Mutual Termination and Disclaimer Form, and that the apprenticeship and employment ended in March 2013. It also accepted that the claimant had signed and returned a Continuance Declaration, but found the surrounding evidence showed that the relationship with Mr Stanley had ended: the claimant had no pay or contact from him after March 2013, later worked with Paul Smith as a new Approved Training Farrier, and used a different apprenticeship number.

The tribunal did not accept the claimant's case that the effective date of termination was 11 December 2020 when he said he was told by Judge Barker that he had been dismissed. It held that the unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal and holiday pay complaints were presented after the expiry of the relevant three-month time limits and that it was reasonably practicable for them to have been presented earlier. Those complaints were therefore dismissed for want of jurisdiction.

After deciding the employer-identity issue, the tribunal also dealt with the second respondent's costs application. It found that the claims against the second and third respondents had no reasonable prospect of success and that the claimant had acted unreasonably in bringing or pursuing them after the June hearing, but took account of his ability to pay and ordered him to pay the second respondent £330.