Hinton v University of East London

Now the leading case on the validity of compromise agreements.  Compromise agreements are crucial to the functioning of the employment tribunal system since, without them, the tribunals would not cope with the number of claims issued each year.  However, the form and content of compromise agreements is regulated by statute in order to ensure that employees are aware of the nature and extent of the rights they are signing away.  In Hinton, Ivan persuaded the Court of Appeal to decide that general words were insufficient to sign away the Claimant’s rights to bring proceedings for employment-related detriments he claims to have suffered while working for the Respondent University.