Somers v Shaws of Bangor Ltd

The decision of the tribunal on the preliminary issue is that the tribunal determines that the claimant is not entitled to present his claim to the industrial tribunal in view of the provisions of Article 19(1) and (2) of the Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 regarding the requirement to present a grievance in writing to the employer and waiting 28 days before presenting a claim to the tribunal. The tribunal has no jurisdiction to hear and to determine the claimant's claim and the claim is struck out, without further Order.

The respondent was represented by Mr M D Shaw, a Director of the respondent company.

" I am no longer employed by the respondent and I did not put my grievance in writing to my employer prior to the date my employment ended. I believe I was harassed during my employment and believe that if I had put my grievance in writing to my employer that this would have resulted in further harassment given that I believe that incidents occurred as a result of my personal injury claim ".

"Whether the claimant is entitled to present a claim to the Industrial Tribunals in view of the provisions of Article 19(1) and (2) of the Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 regarding the requirement to present a grievance in writing to the employer and waiting 28 days before presenting a claim to the tribunal".

(a) The claimant was employed by the respondent and that employment came to an end on 25 October 2005. The claimant had contended in his claim that he had been constructively dismissed with effect from that date. The respondent did not concede that the claimant had been either dismissed or constructively dismissed but the respondent did accept that the employment had terminated on that date.