Mr G Mckinlay v Darren Hush — 2022

This was an open preliminary hearing on 17 June 2022 before Employment Judge O’Donnell. The tribunal considered whether Mr G Mckinlay’s claim against Darren Hush should be dismissed at initial consideration under Rule 27 because it had no reasonable prospects of success. The judgment states that this was the third claim the claimant had brought against Mr Hush about his employment with Royal Mail and its termination, and that earlier claims against Mr Hush had been withdrawn or struck out. It also records that the claimant had previously brought two claims against Royal Mail, one of which was settled by COT3 and one of which was dismissed because the COT3 had ousted the tribunal’s jurisdiction.

The claimant said he had signed the COT3 but did not know what he was signing. The tribunal noted that the issue of his capacity to agree the settlement had already been decided by Employment Judge d’Inverno in case 4103573/2020, in a judgment dated 14 April 2021, and it did not reopen that issue because no appeal had been brought. The tribunal also noted that the claimant’s submissions focused mainly on the merits of what had happened to him, rather than on the jurisdictional points raised by the respondent.

The tribunal held that the COT3 waived the claimant’s right to bring or pursue claims about his employment with Royal Mail and its termination against Royal Mail and its employees, including the present respondent. It also found that the claim was out of time and that the claimant had not argued for any just and equitable extension. Finally, it held that the present claim repeated earlier claims against the same respondent arising from the same matters, so res judicata applied. On that basis, the tribunal concluded that it had no jurisdiction and that the claim had no reasonable prospect of success, and it dismissed the claim under Rule 27.