Mrs S Sarkar v Lyca Media II Limited — 2024

Mrs S Sarkar brought claims against Lyca Media II Limited for unfair dismissal, breach of contract in respect of notice pay, direct and indirect race discrimination, unauthorised deduction from wages for holiday pay, and an award under section 38 of the Employment Act 2002. The tribunal dismissed all claims. It found that she was not an employee of the respondent for the unfair dismissal and notice pay claims, and that those claims were also out of time because she did not prove it was not reasonably practicable to present them within the relevant limitation periods.

The direct race discrimination claims under section 13 of the Equality Act 2010 failed. The tribunal recorded that those claims were presented within time, but it found that the claimant was not an employee of the respondent as defined in section 83 of the Equality Act 2010. The indirect race discrimination claims under section 19 failed because the claimant was not an employee or worker, the claims were not presented within the section 123 time limit, and the tribunal did not consider it just and equitable to extend time.

The holiday pay claim under section 13 of the ERA 1996 also failed. The tribunal found that the claimant was not an employee or worker, that the claim was out of time under section 23 of the ERA 1996, and that she had not shown it was not reasonably practicable to bring the claim in time. The section 38 Employment Act 2002 claim failed because she had not succeeded in any claim that would permit such an award.

As all claims were dismissed, the tribunal said there was no need for a remedy hearing. It also found that the claims had no reasonable prospects of success and that the claimant had conducted the proceedings unreasonably by continuing after the respondent sent costs warnings on 29 April 2024 and 9 May 2024. The tribunal ordered the claimant to pay the respondent a contribution of £2,000 in costs.