The Employment Judge dismissed claims for unfair dismissal, disability discrimination and protected disclosure detriment on the basis of res judicata in circumstances where a personal injury action between the same parties had been pursued in parallel in the Court of Session and had settled on terms which resulted in with decree of absolvitor being pronounced pursuant to a Joint Minute.
Held: The Employment Judge had erred. The subject matter and media concludendi of the two actions were not the same. The Judgment of the Employment Tribunal was quashed and the case remitted to the Employment Tribunal for the claims to be determined at a merits hearing.
Observed: It was unacceptable that claims first presented to an Employment Tribunal in September 2014 had never reached the stage of a merits hearing five years later in September 2019. In terms of the overriding objective, the final responsibility for avoiding delay rests with the Employment Tribunal itself.
[2021] UKEAT 0016 – 20 – 1803
Bailii
England and Wales
Updated: 11 June 2021; Ref: scu.661949