Mr N Stubbs v Consensio Holidays Ltd — 2021

On 19 November 2021 Regional Employment Judge Wade struck out the claimant’s claims against Consensio Holidays Ltd. The tribunal recorded two grounds for strike out: the claims had no reasonable prospect of success because they were filed considerably out of time, and the proceedings had been conducted in a manner that was scandalous, unreasonable or vexatious.

The tribunal noted that a Rule 37 warning had been sent on 4 November 2021. That warning said the claim appeared to be very late, because the employment ended in February 2014 and the claim was not filed until February 2021, and it referred to abusive emails and an incident at the tribunal’s reception on 2 November 2021, when the claimant shouted and was abusive towards tribunal staff. A further letter on 10 November 2021 gave the claimant until 19 November 2021 to respond directly to the warning or request a hearing.

The judge found that the claimant’s later emails did not answer the strike-out warning and were mostly abusive. Although the tribunal accepted that the claimant was very distressed and referred to ill health, it decided that listing a further preliminary hearing would not be fair to the respondent given how late the claim was. The judge also said it was not fair on tribunal staff to tolerate the abusive email traffic, noted concern about staff safety arising from the reception incident, and recorded that the claimant had not expressed regret and was not prepared to engage with the tribunal process.