Mr Dale Robinson v Burtech Engineering Limited and 1 other — 2022

This was a costs judgment following the withdrawal of the claimant's claims. The tribunal heard evidence from the claimant and from the respondents' director. It found that before the claim was issued the claimant had been advised by Unionline, and that he continued to receive advice from that organisation until September 2021, when Unionline declined to act because the claims had no merit. The tribunal found the complaints were doomed from the start and that, although the claimant did not act abusively, he pursued them unreasonably until they were withdrawn and dismissed on 21 September 2021.

Applying Rules 75 and 76 of the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2013, the tribunal limited any award to preparation time costs because the respondents were not professionally represented. It rejected time claimed for investigating a perceived counterclaim for overpaid wages and for surveillance, because those matters related to the respondents' position on a counterclaim rather than to the claims before the tribunal. It allowed only time spent on the ET3 response, preparation for hearing, and completing the case assessment summary and hearing preparation.

The tribunal assessed the allowable preparation time at 14.25 hours at the statutory rate of £41 per hour, producing an award of £584.25. It said it had taken the claimant's ability to pay into account and entered judgment for that sum in favour of the respondents.