Miss D Howden v DN Colleges Group HELD in Sheffield — 2022

At the preliminary hearing on 29 March 2022 before Employment Judge Brain, the claimant did not attend and was not represented. The tribunal recorded that she had also failed to attend or be represented at the case management hearing on 25 November 2021, had failed to comply with paragraphs 5, 6 and 7 of the order made on that date, and had not complied with the directions repeated in the tribunal's letter of 7 February 2022, which warned of the consequences of non-compliance.

The tribunal also recorded that the claimant failed to attend or be represented at the hearing on 29 March 2022. It made enquiries about the reasons for her absence and considered all the information available before giving judgment.

The tribunal held that it could not be said that the claimant's claims had no reasonable prospect of success, so it did not strike them out under rule 37(1)(a) of the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2013. It nevertheless struck the claims out under rule 37(1)(c) for non-compliance with the tribunal's orders and under rule 37(1)(d) because they had not been actively pursued. No remedy was awarded.