Mr M Barlow v British Gas Services Limited — 2021

The claimant brought claims including disability discrimination, unfair dismissal, breach of contract, unpaid holiday pay, arrears of pay, other payments, redundancy payment and personal injury. The respondent applied to strike out the claims after the claimant failed to comply with orders made in October 2020 requiring further information about the claims, a further disability impact statement, and disclosure of recordings. The claimant did not attend the public preliminary hearings on 9 April 2021 or 23 April 2021.

The Tribunal found that the October 2020 orders went to the heart of the claims because they were needed to identify the case the respondent had to meet. It found that the claimant had been given repeated opportunities, extensions, warnings, and explanations, but remained in default. The Tribunal concluded that the non-compliance caused very considerable prejudice, disruption and unfairness to the respondent, and that everything pointed to a fair trial no longer being possible.

The Tribunal also found that the claimant had not actively pursued the claims. It described the delay after November 2020 as unexplained, inordinate and inexcusable, and found a substantial risk that a fair trial was impossible or that serious prejudice had been caused to the respondent. It further concluded that the claimant's conduct of the proceedings was unreasonable and that no lesser sanction than strike out was proportionate. All claims were struck out under Rule 37(1)(c), Rule 37(1)(d), and Rule 37(1)(b) of the 2013 Rules.