Mr A Stoynov v EMS Security Services Ltd — 2022

Mr A Stoynov presented his ET1 on 21 June 2021 alleging unfair dismissal and disability discrimination arising from his work as a security officer for EMS Security Services Ltd. The Respondent did not accept that he was disabled within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010 and said the dispute concerned whether he was exempt from wearing a mask while working at a Derby City Council test centre during the coronavirus pandemic.

At a case management hearing on 23 November 2021, Employment Judge Blackwell ordered the Claimant to provide his medical notes and an impact statement explaining how the relied-on conditions affected normal day to day activities. The Claimant did not provide those documents. He later relied on recorded conversations with his doctor and a scan result, and the tribunal noted the scan did not show chronic sinusitis; the doctor described the condition as 'mild chronic sinusitis' and said it was 'not as bad as you thought it was'.

An Unless Order issued on 25 February 2022, later extended to 11 March 2022 by Employment Judge Welch, required compliance with the earlier orders. The Claimant still did not provide his medical notes or impact statement, so the disability discrimination claim was struck out on 22 March 2022 for failure to comply with the Unless Order.

The remaining unfair dismissal claim was determined at the open preliminary hearing on 21 April 2022. The tribunal held that the Claimant could not bring the claim because he lacked the two years' continuous employment required by s.108 ERA 1996: he said he was employed from 20 June 2019 and dismissed on 20 May 2021, which was short of the qualifying period, and none of the s.108(3) exemptions applied. The tribunal also noted that any breach of contract claim had not been pleaded in the ET1 and no amendment had been sought. The remaining unfair dismissal claim was dismissed.