Patrick Henry McAuley v Ethigen Ltd

Facts

The claimant, Mr Patrick Henry McAuley, was an agency worker on the books of an employment agency which assigned him to work as a "picker packer" in the warehouse of the respondent, Ethigen Ltd, a pharmaceutical supply company. The engagement lasted 13 days, from 30 June 2022 to 12 July 2022. He contended that he had been instructed to carry out "bin work" falling outside his engagement and without basic personal protective equipment, that he did so under protest, and that his assignment was terminated in retaliation for his complaints; the respondent said it ended the assignment because of his poor attitude and performance. He brought three complaints: harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, automatic unfair dismissal as an agency worker with employee status under Regulation 17(1) of the Agency Workers Regulations 2010, and detriment under Regulation 17(2) of the Agency Workers Regulations 2010. At a preliminary hearing on 21 and 22 August 2023, Employment Judge O'Donnell held that the Employment Tribunal lacked jurisdiction over the first two complaints and struck out the detriment complaint under rule 37(1)(b) of the Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure 2013 for the claimant's scandalous, unreasonable or vexatious conduct of the proceedings, relying substantially on correspondence the claimant had sent the Tribunal. Following a rule 3(10) hearing, his appeal was permitted to proceed on a single ground.