Case 6024066/2025 · Employment Tribunal
Ms Helen Browning-Smith v Drink and Food Lewes Limited & Others — 2026
- Case reference
- 6024066/2025
- Decision date
- 6 January 2026
- Jurisdiction
- England & Wales
- Judge
- Employment Judge Fowell Date
Parties
2 namedClaimant
Ms Helen Browning-Smith
Respondent
Key findings
Tribunal's reasoningMs Helen Browning-Smith brought a complaint of unfair dismissal against Drink and Food Lewes Limited and others. The tribunal recorded that she had been employed for less than two years at the time of her resignation on 9 June 2025.
On 2 July 2025 the tribunal issued a notice explaining that two years' service is required for a complaint of unfair dismissal and giving her until 16 July 2025 to explain why the claim should not be struck out. No response was received.
The tribunal therefore struck out the unfair dismissal complaint under Rule 37(1)(a) of the Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure 2024. The judgment also notes that Ms Browning-Smith's other complaints of sexual harassment were not determined in this decision and were listed to proceed to a hearing on 29 April 2026.
Claims and outcomes
1 finding recorded| Claim type | Issue or finding | Outcome | Protected characteristic | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unfair dismissal | Struck out under Rule 37(1)(a) Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure 2024 because the claimant had less than two years' service at the time of resignation on 9 June 2025 and did not respond to the tribunal's notice dated 2 July 2025 inviting reasons why the complaint should not be struck out. | Struck out | — | — |
Legal tests applied
2 references- Rule 37(1)(a) Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure 2024
- two years' service requirement for unfair dismissal
Official outcome judgment PDF
Gov.uk primary recordThe official judgment PDF on gov.uk contains the tribunal's outcome, reasoning, and any remedy details. Where this page does not yet show extracted outcomes for every claim, use the PDF as the authoritative source.
Published on gov.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
How we got this data
Case essentials (reference, date, judge, venue, country, claim categories) are extracted from the structured metadata gov.uk publishes alongside each decision. Parties and monetary figures are extracted from the judgment PDF text. Key findings and per-claim outcomes require a second extraction pass that is not yet complete for this case — until then, the primary source linked above is the authoritative record. See full methodology.
Named in this case and want it removed? Submit a takedown request. The page will be withdrawn on receipt and the editor will follow up within five working days.