Mr Dawes, Trade Union Representative For the v Miss Omotosho, Tribunal Advocate — 2025

This was an application for interim relief under s.161 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. The claimant relied on an alleged dismissal connected with trade union membership and/or trade union activities under s.152. The tribunal recorded that the procedural requirements for the application had been complied with, including the required certificate from the trade union representative.

The respondent’s case was that the claimant, a care assistant working nights in a business supporting vulnerable adults, was dismissed because it believed she was sleeping on duty. The tribunal noted that there had been concerns in 2023/2024 about whether the claimant had been sleeping on night duty, and that the key incident was the night shift of 23/24 October 2024, when she was found sitting in a chair with her coat on, a blanket over her head or possibly her hood up, and in darkness. She was suspended, investigated, and later dismissed after a disciplinary hearing at which she was accompanied by her trade union representative.

Applying the interim relief test, including London City Airports Limited v Chacko and the requirement to assess whether the claimant had a pretty good chance of success at the full hearing, the tribunal made a broad assessment of the material before it. It concluded that the dismissal reason advanced by the respondent was that it believed the claimant was sleeping on duty, following an investigation and disciplinary hearing, rather than because of union membership or union activity.

On that basis, the tribunal was not persuaded that the claimant had a pretty good chance of succeeding at a full merits hearing. The application for interim relief was therefore not well founded and was not granted.