EAT JURISDICTION:
2002 Act and pre-action requirements
The ‘substance of the tribunal complaint’ in Regulation 15(2) of the Employment Act 2002 (Dispute Resolution) Regulations 2004 should be broadly construed; such an interpretation is consistent with the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Harris v Towergate London Market Limited [2008] IRLR 537 and the judgments of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in Remploy Ltd v Shaw [2009] ICR 1159, Eagles v Rugged Systems Ltd UKEAT/0018/09/ZT and Mockett v Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited UKEAT/0299/09/CEA. The ‘substance of the tribunal complaint’ refers not to the cause of action but to the factual matrix from which the cause of action derives.
Consequently, where, as here, a disciplinary procedure had concluded before an allegation of dismissal by reason of race discrimination was made by raising a grievance, the procedure still being followed pursuant to the grievance on 30 April when the primary limitation period in respect of a complaint of unfair dismissal otherwise expired included the substance of the complaint of unfair dismissal.
Citations:
[2010] UKEAT 0510 – 09 – 0505
Links:
Employment
Updated: 19 August 2022; Ref: scu.416803