EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS (SCOTLAND) Case No: 4111454/2019 Held in Aberdeen on February 2020 Employment Judge N M Hosie Ms I Lawrie v Fire Protection Alliance Limited — 2020

This was a preliminary hearing before Employment Judge Nicol Hosie in Aberdeen on 18 February 2020. Ms Lawrie claimed unfair dismissal, notice pay, accrued holiday pay, and an award for failure to provide written terms and conditions, and she also challenged a settlement agreement on the basis that the respondent had not paid all sums due under it. The respondent maintained that a legally binding settlement agreement had been reached and that the tribunal lacked jurisdiction because the claims had been settled.

The central issue became the effective date of termination. The claimant argued that the date could not be earlier than 26 August 2019, when she and her solicitor signed the agreement, and she relied on correspondence said to show that negotiations were still ongoing. The respondent relied on the agreement itself, the P45 showing a leaving date of 16 August 2019, and the evidence of Graham Morris, who said that 16 August 2019 was the agreed termination date. The tribunal found Mr Morris credible and reliable, held that the agreement's terms were clear, and concluded that the effective date of termination was 16 August 2019.

The tribunal refused to admit the additional documents said to be without prejudice material. It accepted the respondent's submission that the Oceanbulk interpretation exception did not assist because the settlement agreement could be properly construed without that material, and it found that the case did not fall within the recognised exceptions discussed in Unilever. The tribunal also noted that, even if the additional documents had been admitted, it would have reached the same view on the termination date.

Having found that the effective date of termination was 16 August 2019, the tribunal held that it had no contractual jurisdiction to consider the claim under section 3 of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 and the Employment Tribunals Extension of Jurisdiction (Scotland) Order 1994. It therefore dismissed the claim for want of jurisdiction. The judgment records that the respondent had paid a termination payment of £4,000 and legal expenses of £300 under the agreement, and that there had been an overpayment of holiday pay of £1,143.52 deducted from the final payment.