Mr M Liepa v Crystal Springs Consumer Division Limited — 2025

This was a preliminary hearing about whether references to the 23 October 2023 meeting and related settlement communications could be relied on at the final hearing of Mr M Liepa's unfair dismissal and disability discrimination claims. The tribunal found that the meeting itself fell within the statutory protection for pre-termination negotiations in s.111A ERA 1996, even though the words "without prejudice" were not used in the meeting and Mr Liepa was not expressly given a separate s.111A explanation at that point.

On the unfair dismissal side, the tribunal rejected the argument that the respondent's conduct was improper. It accepted that Mr Laird intended to put a settlement proposal to Mr Liepa, that the letter handed over explained the proposal and its s.111A protection, and that asking Mr Liepa to read the letter and offering paid time away from the workplace to consider it did not amount to undue pressure. The tribunal also held that stating in the letter that a grievance might lead to disciplinary action was not blackmail or improper conduct, and that there was no failure to take Mr Liepa's mental health into account amounting to improper behaviour.

Separately, for the disability discrimination claim, the tribunal held that the without prejudice rule also applied because there was a relevant dispute between the parties at the time of the meeting. It relied on the earlier disagreement about the Slack message, the informal warning, the appeal describing the process as a "witch hunt", the grievance context, and Mr Laird's evidence that he expected the situation to escalate. The tribunal found the respondent's settlement proposal was a genuine attempt to resolve that dispute, and that there was no unambiguous impropriety. It therefore ruled that references to the 23 October 2023 meeting, the settlement letter, and subsequent without prejudice communications are inadmissible in these proceedings. No merits liability findings or remedy were तय at this hearing.