The High Court has voided the Employment Tribunal's ruling to not investigate a discrimination case. The case centers around a female employee who was working as a Legal Officer in the Parliament who had been terminated during the probation period after she had called in sick.

The case that was submitted to the tribunal reads that she was employed as a Legal Officer on 4th October 2022 and terminated on 3rd January 2023 without establishing due process, and against the Employment Act and regulations for parliamentary service employees. And so, a request was made for re-employment and compensation.

The procedural points that were submitted in response by the Parliament office states that she was terminated from her position due to the employer's right to terminate an employee during probation without notice.

The Parliament office stated that since the employee was dismissed under the choice the office legally has, the tribunal would not have any jurisdiction to look into the case. The Parliament office also stated that the tribunal came to a ruling while they would not have any jurisdiction into such cases.

When the ruling was appealed at the High Court, the sentence on 2nd April reads that the claimant's defense was that even though they were dismissed while on probation, the ruling came about even with the claimant having informed them they were sick and that it is an act of discrimination.

Judge Fathimath Faruheeza, Judge Mohamed Shaneez Abdulla and Judge Abdul Maniu Hussain reached a consensus, with their sentence reading it is unclear as to whether the tribunal's ruling was based under the claimant being terminated from their position while the tribunal has no jurisdiction to do so under Article 14 or Article 4, which reads that the tribunal is in no position to discriminate any party.

Even though Article 14 reads that an employer has the right to terminate an employee from their position during the probation period without notice, the High Court has determined that the tribunal has the jurisdiction to look into a case if its foundation is built upon discrimination.

As the party who is appealing the case stated that they were dismissed even after they had informed their employer they were ill, the Employment Tribunal ruled that as the case was ruled upon without any consideration to the facts of the case, the High Court ruled that the tribunal's decision is void.

And so, the High Court's sentence reads that the determination needs to be made whether the case can be reviewed under Article 4 of the Employment Act and to send the case back to the Employment Tribunal for them to come to another ruling.