JS v Accenture UK Limited RECORD OF A PRELIMINARY HEARING — 2025

This was a preliminary hearing on 2 June 2025 at which Employment Judge Forde considered the respondent’s application to strike out the claim in the claimant’s absence. The tribunal held that the claimant’s claim was struck out under Rules 37(1)(b), (c), (d) and (e) of the Employment Tribunal Procedure Rules 2024, and the final hearing listed for 27 April 2026 was vacated.

The judge summarised this as the third related claim brought by the claimant against Accenture UK Limited. The first claim had been struck out for unreasonable conduct, non-compliance with tribunal orders, and because a fair trial was no longer possible; appeals against that decision had been unsuccessful. The second claim had been struck out as an abuse of process because it attempted to resurrect matters already dismissed in the first claim or otherwise engaged Henderson v Henderson.

On the evidence before the tribunal, the judge found that the claimant had conducted the third claim unreasonably throughout, had not actively pursued it, and had repeatedly failed to engage with case management. The reasons recorded included repeated postponements or non-effective hearings, uncertainty about representation and instructions, failure to comply with orders, and the claimant’s non-attendance at the 2 June 2025 hearing without giving reasons in advance.

Applying the Rule 38 threshold and then the discretion to strike out in light of the Overriding Objective and Article 6 ECHR, the tribunal concluded that there could no longer be a fair hearing and that the claim could not be effectively managed going forward. The tribunal recorded that further delay would add to cost and complexity without any indication that the claimant would engage properly. The day after the oral judgment, the claimant wrote to say she had been declared unfit to attend by her psychiatrist, but that email did not request a postponement and was not treated as one. No monetary remedy was awarded.