Ms M Janusauskaite First v Just Ask Estate Services Limited — 2023

The claimant presented claims on 21 May 2020 said to be for automatic unfair dismissal and race discrimination arising from a dismissal on 4 March 2020. The tribunal recorded that ordinary unfair dismissal was not available because the claimant had less than two years' continuous service, and that the details of the claims on the claim form were unclear.

The case proceeded through case management in the claimant's absence. She attended a telephone case management hearing on 28 July 2021 and said she had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act, but the tribunal said that hearing was not effective because she needed an interpreter and further information was not obtained. She did not attend the preliminary hearing on 16 February 2022, did not comply with the ensuing case management orders, and did not respond to the tribunal's later request in November 2022 for an update and supporting evidence.

At the final hearing on 9 May 2023 the claimant did not attend and had not contacted the tribunal for over a year. The respondent applied for strike out on the basis of failure to comply with orders and failure actively to pursue the claim. The tribunal considered the claimant's references to detention under the Mental Health Act but noted that she had provided no evidence of hospitalisation or ongoing capacity issues, that capacity is presumed under section 1(2) of the Mental Health Act 2005, and that detention alone is not determinative of lack of capacity.

The tribunal concluded, having regard to the overriding objective, that the claimant had failed without explanation to comply with tribunal orders and was not actively pursuing her claim. All claims were therefore struck out, and no remedy was awarded.