Mrs S L McLaren v FearFree — 2024

Mrs S L McLaren brought a complaint of unfair dismissal against FearFree. The tribunal held that section 108 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires two years' service before an unfair dismissal complaint can be brought, and found that the claimant had been employed for less than two years. It therefore concluded that she was not entitled to present the unfair dismissal complaint.

The claimant was given an opportunity to explain why the claim should not be struck out and wrote on 3 December 2024 that the two-year requirement did not apply because the case involved alleged breaches of the Equality Act 2010. The tribunal rejected that submission, stating that a dismissal said to be in breach of the Equality Act 2010 is not an exception to the qualifying period in s.108 ERA 1996. As the claimant did not provide an acceptable reason why the complaint should continue, the unfair dismissal complaint was struck out.

The judgment states that the claimant's other complaints were not affected by this decision. It also records that the judgment did not affect the claimant's separate claim that her dismissal was discriminatory under section 39(2) of the Equality Act 2010, but it makes no determination on that claim in this judgment.