Mr D Kavanagh v Title Role Productions Limited — 2024

This was a preliminary hearing on 14 August 2024 at which the claimant did not attend and was not represented. The tribunal noted that previous preliminary hearings had been postponed at the claimant's request, that there had been no contact from him since January 2024, and that the file referred to a mental health condition. The respondent asked the tribunal to dismiss the claim under rule 47, but the tribunal refused to dismiss the whole case because the claimant had not been given notice that dismissal of the entire claim would be considered that day.

The tribunal struck out the unfair dismissal element as having been presented prematurely and said a separate judgment would issue on that point. In relation to the disability discrimination claim, the tribunal considered that there was little point in giving substantive case management directions while the claimant appeared not to be actively pursuing the case. It therefore made an unless order under rule 38: by 4 September 2024 the claimant had to confirm that he was pursuing the claim, confirm the position on any amendments, and send any applications he wished to make. If he did not comply, the entire claim would be dismissed without further notice; if he did comply, the matter would be listed for a further case management hearing.