Mr M Thomas v WATL Group Ltd — 2023

Mr M Thomas presented the claim on 29 November 2022 as a complaint of disability discrimination. After enquiries about the correct name of the respondent, the proceedings were served on WATL Group Ltd on 17 April 2023. No ET3 response was filed.

At a case management hearing on 7 June 2023, EJ Sharp ordered the claimant to make a fully pleaded application to amend by 7 August 2023 and to provide a written statement about his impairments together with relevant medical records by the same date. Those documents were needed to determine whether the claimant was a disabled person at the relevant time. A further case management hearing was listed for 18 September 2023.

The claimant did not provide the ordered witness statement or medical records, despite reminders from the tribunal on 10 August 2023 and 22 August 2023. No further application to amend was made. On 7 September 2023 EJ Sharp issued a strike out warning under rule 37, referring to non-compliance with the case management orders and the fact that the case had not been actively pursued. The claimant did not send any objections by 14 September 2023.

When the matter came before Employment Judge R Harfield on 18 September 2023, neither the claimant nor his representative attended. The clerk telephoned the claimant's representative, who said they would not attend. The tribunal also recorded that it could not progress and determine the claim, including the claim as originally brought without amendment, without the disability documentation and information that had been ordered. The claim was therefore struck out under rule 37 for non-compliance and lack of active pursuit.