Miss A A Khan v Aidem Digital — 2022

The hearing took place by CVP at Birmingham on 12 October 2022 before Employment Judge C Kelly. The claimant did not attend and was not represented. The tribunal recorded that she emailed at 09.18 on the morning of the hearing saying she had anxiety and heart palpitations and was unable to attend. It also noted that this was the fourth consecutive hearing she had not attended, and that her earlier explanations of having COVID at two hearings did not explain why she could not attend remote hearings from home.

The tribunal also noted that, although the claimant had complied in part by sending further particulars in respect of her sex discrimination claim, she had failed to copy the respondent as directed, despite prior warnings that this was a simple step required for compliance. The tribunal had already given the claimant an opportunity to make representations about a possible strike out by an order dated 6 July 2022, which satisfied the requirement for the respondent to have the opportunity to address strike out under rule 37(2) of the Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure 2013.

The tribunal directed that the claim be struck out in full. It held that the repeated failures to attend the four listed hearings, together with the claimant's conduct in relation to compliance with directions, amounted to unreasonable conduct for the purposes of rule 76. The tribunal ordered the claimant to pay the respondent costs assessed at £180 by 4pm on 26 October 2022, and directed that the respondent be reflected in the proceedings as "Aiden Digital CIC" to the extent not already recorded that way.