Mr N Brockley, counsel v Respondent — 2022

The claimant began work as a food technology teacher on 1 September 2018, went off sick in October 2018 and did not return. The tribunal noted that complaints about her conduct and discussions about a disciplinary process or departure arose within days of the start of employment and therefore before any alleged disability. It also recorded that the later absence was variously attributed to stress, a virus, a hernia, and from around April 2019 anxiety and depression.

The tribunal had repeatedly directed the claimant to provide up-to-date medical evidence addressing fitness to prepare for and attend trial, but no sufficient report was produced and witness statement exchange remained outstanding. The claimant sought a further postponement shortly before the June 2022 hearing, but the tribunal refused it because the request was late, no exceptional circumstances were shown, and the medical material did not provide any realistic prospect of a fair hearing within the existing trial window.

Applying rule 30A and rule 37, and referring to Andreou, Emuemokoro, Peixoto and Riley, the tribunal concluded that a fair hearing was not possible in the trial window and that there was no realistic prospect of a fair hearing in the foreseeable future. It struck out the disability discrimination and reasonable adjustments complaints, and said the remaining money and wrongful dismissal claims could only proceed if they could be determined on the documents and brief evidence without the claimant's participation, with the final position to be confirmed after further submissions. No monetary award is recorded in the extract.