Mr M Pettitt v Elmdene International Limited — 2025

Mr Pettitt was employed by Elmdene International Limited as an assembly worker until 21 May 2024. He presented a tribunal claim on 3 July 2024 for unfair dismissal, holiday pay and arrears of pay. The hearing on 9 May 2025 was listed to decide whether the claim should be struck out because it had been compromised in a COT3 agreement reached through Acas on 2 July 2024, recording settlement monies of £5,550.74.

The Tribunal found that a concluded COT3 agreement existed on 2 July 2024 and that it bound the parties even though Mr Pettitt had not signed it. Relying on Gilbert v Kembridge Fibres Ltd [1984] I.C.R. 188 and section 203 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the Judge held that signature was not required. The Tribunal rejected the claimant's arguments that the agreement was not binding because of alleged lack of good faith, alleged misrepresentation arising from the Acas logo on the apology letter, and alleged breaches relating to his pension and clause 12 of the agreement. It found no basis for misrepresentation or bad faith and said any enforcement issues under the agreement would lie outside its jurisdiction.

The claim was therefore struck out because the complaints had been compromised by the COT3 agreement. In a separate costs decision under Rule 74 of the Employment Tribunal Procedure Rules, the Tribunal found that the claim had no reasonable prospect of success and that the claimant had conducted the proceedings unreasonably. It ordered him to pay the respondent's costs in the sum of £5,550.74, limited so that enforcement could only be by set-off against any amount payable to him under the COT3. The respondent's costs schedule later produced to the Tribunal totalled £12,706 plus VAT.