Mr. M. Harris-Donovan v ATS Care Limited — 2024

Mr M Harris-Donovan presented his ET1 on 15 November 2023. The tribunal record notes that his later correspondence of 26 January 2024 said he felt "forced to leave" his employment, and that the record of the preliminary hearing on 8 February 2024 suggested there may have been a live claim of automatic constructive unfair dismissal. If that claim existed, the tribunal said it was dismissed together with the detriment claim outlined in the ET1.

On 11 March 2024 the respondent filed an amended ET3 and disputed the constructive unfair dismissal allegation, saying it had not been mentioned in the ET1 and would require an amendment application. The claimant then asked for more time to submit a new claim and response, but there was no further engagement from him after 11 March. The tribunal later issued a strike out warning on 16 May 2024 after the claimant had not complied with parts of the 8 February case management orders and had not actively pursued the claim.

At the hearing on 28 May 2024 the claimant did not attend and could not be contacted by telephone. The tribunal considered the respondent's strike out application under Rule 37(1)(c) and (d) of the Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure 2013, but it accepted that two points in the application were erroneous and held that the remaining failures did not justify strike out because a fair trial would still have been possible. The tribunal nevertheless dismissed the claim under Rule 47 because the claimant was absent, had offered no explanation, and practicable enquiries had been made without success. No monetary award was made.