Case 3304467/2020 · Employment Tribunal
Mr A Annette v Ministry of Defence — 2021
- Case reference
- 3304467/2020
- Decision date
- 9 March 2021
- Jurisdiction
- England & Wales
- Judge
- Employment Judge R Lewis Appearances
- Venue
- Watford
Parties
2 namedClaimant
Mr A Annette
Respondent
Key findings
Tribunal's reasoningThe claimant, a former soldier in the British Army, was discharged on 30 June 2020. He brought an unfair dismissal claim and said the reason for discharge related to a visible tattoo, also worn by other former colleagues who had not been disciplined.
The tribunal accepted the respondent's submission that it had no power to hear an unfair dismissal claim by a former member of the armed forces because the relevant Employment Rights Act 1996 provisions had not been brought into force. Although the claimant's argument on consistency in fairness was described as troubling, the unfair dismissal claim could not proceed.
The claimant also brought a race discrimination claim. The tribunal accepted that, under the Equality Act 2010 procedure for service personnel, the claimant was required to submit a service complaint before presenting a tribunal claim. Because he presented the tribunal claim in May 2020 and the service complaint on 5 June 2020, the tribunal found it had no power to hear the discrimination claim and struck out the claims entirely.
Claims and outcomes
2 findings recorded| Claim type | Issue or finding | Outcome | Protected characteristic | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unfair dismissal | The tribunal found it had no power to hear an unfair dismissal claim brought by a former member of the armed forces because the relevant Employment Rights Act 1996 provisions had not been brought into force. | Struck out | — | — |
| Race discrimination | The tribunal made no findings on the merits. It found it had no power to hear the race discrimination claim because the claimant presented the tribunal claim before submitting a service complaint. | Struck out | Race | — |
Legal tests applied
2 references- sections 191 and 192 Employment Rights Act 1996
- ss 120 and 121 Equality Act 2010
Official outcome judgment PDF
Gov.uk primary recordThe official judgment PDF on gov.uk contains the tribunal's outcome, reasoning, and any remedy details. Where this page does not yet show extracted outcomes for every claim, use the PDF as the authoritative source.
Published on gov.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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