Miss Sue Ellis, Lay Representative & Support Worker For the v Mrs S Riaz, Solicitor By consent, this hearing took place against the background of the coronavirus pandemic; and was conducted remotely by Cloud Video Platform (CVP) in accordance with safe practice and guidelines. — 2021

On the claimant's Rule 38(2) application to set aside the earlier strike-out, Employment Judge Dimbylow reviewed the unless order made after the claimant had not attended the 15 February 2021 hearing and had not provided the requested particulars. The judge found that, through her correspondence on 28 February and 9 March 2021, the claimant had done enough in narrative form to identify that she was pursuing unfair dismissal, disability discrimination, and a claim for compensation, even though the presentation was informal and not professionally drafted.

Applying the interests of justice under Rule 38(2), the overriding objective, and the case law on sanctions, the judge balanced the claimant's difficulties, her attempts to engage, the prejudice to the respondent, and the fact that a fair trial still remained possible. He accepted that the claimant had not shown a pattern of deliberate non-compliance and that the file still allowed the issues to be understood in general terms, although the respondent would have to continue to deal with an ill-defined case and a relisted preliminary hearing.