Mr K Bouhanna v The Westminster Academy (Westbourne Green) — 2024

The matter came before Employment Judge Joffe at London Central on 25 January 2024 as a public preliminary hearing listed in place of the first day of a two-day merits hearing. The hearing followed an earlier case management hearing before Employment Judge Wisby at which the issues had been clarified, directions had been given for the full hearing, and the respondent's late response had been accepted after extensions of time.

Before the hearing, the Tribunal wrote to the claimant explaining that any challenge to the acceptance of the response was a matter for appeal and asking whether he would comply with future Tribunal orders. The claimant replied that he did not accept the earlier decision, continued to seek default judgment and an apology, and repeated his complaint about the respondent being allowed more time.

At the hearing itself, the claimant again objected to the accepted response, said there had been manipulation of the law, and then left after telling the Judge to strike the case out and that he wanted nothing to do with the court. The Judge found that he had not actively pursued his claims and had no intention of actively pursuing them.

The claimant's claims were struck out under rule 37(1)(d) because they had not been actively pursued and under rule 37(1)(b) because his conduct was unreasonable: he was deliberately refusing to comply with Tribunal orders and could not be reasoned with or persuaded to participate. The Judge held that a fair trial was not possible on that basis and that there was no lesser sanction that would address the problem.