Ms C Belle v Sophie Amono — 2022

The claimant brought claims against Ms Sophie Amono for unfair dismissal after exercising or claiming a statutory right, breach of contract in relation to notice pay, unpaid wages, and holiday pay. During the continued hearing, the claimant withdrew the holiday pay claim and said any holiday entitlement had been paid.

The tribunal’s central issue was whether Ms Amono or Let’s Do Stuffs Limited was the claimant’s employer. After hearing evidence and considering the documents, the tribunal found that the claimant was employed by Let’s Do Stuffs Limited from 3 February 2020 until her employment ended on 12 April 2020. It accepted that the company traded under the name Stuffs, that the employment paperwork and emails were branded accordingly, that the claimant had a work email address ending @letsdostuffs.co.uk, and that the termination letter was headed Let’s Do Stuffs Limited.

The tribunal also relied on the claimant’s own email of 5 April 2020, in which she referred to herself as a contractual employee of Stuffs. It accepted Ms Amono’s evidence that the company did not yet have a business bank account when March wages were paid from her personal account, and it treated that as consistent with the company’s early trading position rather than with personal employment by Ms Amono.

Because Let’s Do Stuffs Limited was not a party to the proceedings, the tribunal held that it had no jurisdiction to decide the claimant’s unfair dismissal, notice pay, or wages claims against Ms Amono. Those claims were therefore dismissed.