Grievance Procedure Revisited

ICLR summary
Canary Wharf Management Ltd v Edebi
EAT
3 March 2006
Daily Law Notes Report Summary
In June and July 2004 the claimant, who suffered from asthma,
raised a written grievance with his employers that his exposure to
traffic fumes in the course of his employment had caused an asthma
attack, and he made reference to the Disability Discrimination Act
1995 ("the Act"). On 25 March 2005 the claimant wrote a letter of
resignation, referring to his previous complaint and raising a
number of specific complaints, including the effect of his working
conditions on his health, but making no reference to the 1995 Act
or to his asthma.  The Tribunal allowed the claim under the Act
and the employers appealed successfully.  "The references to the
claimant's health problems in the later letter did not raise, even
in a non-technical and unsophisticated way, an issue which the
employers could reasonably understand to have arisen under the
Disability Discrimination Act 1995, and, accordingly, there was no
jurisdiction to hear the claim."