Ms. B. Lundberg v Unikey Limited — 2024

The Tribunal converted the listed final hearing into a preliminary hearing to decide whether there was a binding COT3 agreement and, if so, whether it brought claim number 3300946/2024 to an end. The claimant attended; the respondent did not, having emailed the day before to say that a family emergency prevented attendance. The claimant explained that she believed there had been no settlement because she had not been paid the agreed sum and understood the respondent had been trying to renegotiate the position.

The Tribunal recorded that ACAS had emailed the Tribunal on 24 July 2024 with COT3 reference R291160/23 stating that settlement had been reached on 4 March 2024. Although both parties later told the Tribunal there had been no settlement, Judge Matthews found that the COT3 agreement had been properly entered into on 4 March 2024. The Tribunal accepted that there had been a delay by ACAS in notifying it, and that the respondent had continued to seek to renegotiate the terms of the settlement, but those matters did not alter the existence of the agreement.

The Tribunal held that the settlement should have led to the claim being withdrawn or dismissed as at 4 March 2024. It therefore concluded that the claim had been settled by way of an ACAS conciliated settlement and that the Tribunal had no jurisdiction to determine it. The claim was dismissed and no substantive remedy was awarded.