Mr G Horne v Faulkner and Mason — 2022

Mr G Horne brought a claim for unpaid wages against Faulkner and Mason. The respondent’s response said the correct legal identity of the employer was JSM Recruitment Ltd t/a Faulkner and Mason, and that the claimant had done a short assignment but no wages were paid because he was said to be unable to provide the documentation needed to evidence his right to work in the UK.

The case was listed for a preliminary case management hearing because neither party was represented and the tribunal considered the legal issues around claims based on allegedly illegal contracts to be complicated. In preparing for the hearing, the Employment Judge noted that the claimant appeared to have recently obtained a Rule 21 judgment against “Faulkner and Mason” in Bristol, and inferred that the sums there might be the same sums sought in this case, although that could not be confirmed.

Neither party attended the hearing. The tribunal clerk contacted Mr Horne, who said he had been paid his money and did not propose to attend; he did not email the tribunal to confirm that position or to withdraw the claim. In those circumstances, Employment Judge Dunlop dismissed the claim under Rule 47 of the Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure 2019 because the claimant had not attended the hearing.