Mr C Burton v Greene King Services Limited — 2024

On 9 September 2024 the tribunal struck out the claimant’s claim under Rule 37(1)(c) and (d) of the Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure 2013 because of non-compliance with case management orders and because the claim was not being actively pursued. This judgment concerns the claimant’s application for reconsideration, which was made the same day and was rejected on 2 October 2024. The tribunal also recorded the claimant’s assertions that he had provided information through his Unite representative and that the respondent had not defended certain allegations, but those points did not alter the outcome.

The tribunal set out that, after the preliminary hearing on 16 August 2023, the claimant was ordered to provide a schedule of loss, disclosure, agreement of the bundle and witness statements. The respondent says it chased for compliance, sought an unless order, and the tribunal issued a strike-out warning on 15 May 2024 requiring a response by 29 May 2024. The tribunal found there was no recorded response to that warning, no adequate response to the later order of 20 June 2024, and no meaningful explanation for the continuing non-compliance. The final hearing listed for 24 to 28 June 2024 was postponed, and the claim was struck out on 9 September 2024.

Refusing reconsideration, Employment Judge Bansal held there was no reasonable prospect of the decision being varied or revoked. The judgment says the claimant had made no attempt to comply with the orders over many months, had not adequately responded to the strike-out warning or the 20 June 2024 order, and had not identified an error of law. The tribunal said the interests of justice did not support disregarding the non-compliance, and that reinstatement would prejudice the respondent through further cost and delay. The tribunal also stated that any asserted error of law was a matter for appeal, not reconsideration.