Mr L Goodwin v Acqua Mundus Ltd — 2024

The case was listed at Birmingham Employment Tribunal on 2 December 2024 before Employment Judge Akhtar. The claimant, Mr L Goodwin, did not attend and no communication had been received from him to explain his absence. The respondent was represented by Ms A Acheampomj, litigation consultant. The tribunal recorded that the claimant had been aware of the hearing since the preliminary hearing on 1 July 2024.

The reasons note that the hearing had originally been listed for final hearing but, by notice dated 26 November 2024, it remained in the list as a preliminary hearing to deal with the respondent’s strike out application based on non-compliance and failure actively to pursue the claim. The tribunal recorded that neither it nor the respondent had received any communication from the claimant since 1 July 2024. The respondent had sent emails on 15, 19, 22 and 27 August 2024 seeking engagement with Tribunal directions, but the claimant did not respond.

The tribunal also recorded that on 19 November 2024 the claimant sent an email to the respondent seeking access to work emails, but did not communicate about the claim or respond to the respondent’s earlier emails. The tribunal clerk attempted contact using the telephone numbers given in the ET1 and also sent an email, but the calls went unanswered and no response was received.

On that basis, the Employment Judge was satisfied that the claimant had notice of the hearing and had chosen not to attend or participate. Exercising the power under Rule 47 of the Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure 2013, the tribunal dismissed the claimant’s claim forthwith in its entirety. No merits findings or monetary remedy were recorded.