James McGerrigle v Robert Barnett and others [2017]

The claimant brought claims including unfair dismissal and failure to pay holiday pay notice pay.  He had worked for the respondents for 20 years as a farm labourer and claimed that he was told that he was being made redundant. Evidence was heard that the claimant’s wife looked after all business matters for him and that she organised a meeting with an accountant to consider an upcoming tax bill.

Although accepting that he had no legal expertise, the accountant suggested that a claim of unfair dismissal may arise and said someone in his office would look into the matter. This did not materialise but eventually the claimant’s wife was able to have an ET1 form sent from the Office of