Ms P Linden v Grayson Engineering Systems PRELIMINARY HEARING — 2020

The case was an equal pay, sex discrimination and victimisation claim. Following earlier case management, Employment Judge Harding made an unless order on 13 March 2020 requiring the claimant to send the respondent a copy of her witness statement by 4:00 pm on 12 April 2020, failing which her claim would stand dismissed without further order. The claimant did not serve a witness statement by that date or at all.

At the preliminary hearing on 16 July 2020, Employment Judge Camp held that the claimant had not complied with the unless order and that the claim was therefore automatically dismissed immediately after 4:00 pm on 12 April 2020. The judge reviewed the claimant's later correspondence and concluded that the material she referred to as a "statement from my witness" was not a witness statement within the meaning of the order. No merits findings were made on the underlying equal pay, sex discrimination or victimisation allegations.

Because the dismissal had already taken effect, the tribunal said there was no claim before it at the hearing. It noted that the claimant could apply under rule 38(2) to have the dismissal set aside, but any such application would need to comply with the Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure, including rule 92, and would need a detailed explanation for the non-compliance. The tribunal also recorded that the respondent had not yet decided whether to make a costs application.