Mr T-J Nicol-Hinde v Stellar Tax And Business Advisory Services Limited — 2020

At a preliminary hearing on 28 June 2021 before Employment Judge Goraj, the tribunal dealt with the respondent's application to strike out the claimant's claims. The claimant did not attend. The background recorded that the claimant had brought disability discrimination claims together with monetary claims for holiday pay and arrears of pay, had said he was disabled by reason of dyslexia, and had stated that the outstanding monetary claim had reduced to £114.50 after some payments had been made.

Applying rule 37(1)(c) of the Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure 2013 and the overriding objective in rule 2, the tribunal found serious non-compliance by the claimant. It found that he had not complied with directions requiring a schedule of loss, relevant documents, a hearing bundle and witness statements, and that he gave late notice that he would not attend because of a planned maths examination. The tribunal accepted that this had caused disruption and prejudice to the respondent. It also noted that the respondent accepted the claimant had learning style difficulties, though it did not accept a diagnosis of dyslexia in the absence of supporting assessments.

The tribunal nevertheless decided that a fair trial remained possible and that strike out was not an appropriate sanction at that stage. It took into account that the claimant had previously provided some information, the issues had been identified in the case management order, the respondent understood the case it had to meet, and relevant witnesses were still available. The tribunal therefore refused to strike out the claims, relisted the matter for a four-day final hearing in April 2022, and directed the claimant to provide further evidence and a schedule of loss by 30 July 2021, warning that further non-compliance could lead to strike out without further warning.