Ms S Irvine v Dr Don Jude Mahadanaarachchi t/a Stanley Road Medical Centre — 2021

This judgment concerned the respondent's application for costs, not the merits of the underlying unlawful deductions from wages claim. The application had been made after the claimant withdrew that claim the day before the listed hearing on 8 September 2020.

A CVP hearing was listed for 2 March 2021 to determine the costs application. The Tribunal noted that the parties had been given login details and told to provide an electronic bundle. The claimant corresponded with the Tribunal in February 2021, indicating uncertainty about the purpose of the hearing and then explaining the circumstances in which the claim had been withdrawn.

No communication was received from the respondent and no bundle was lodged. When the hearing opened, neither party joined the CVP link. The Employment Judge reviewed the file and noted that the costs application had been made by Andrew Halpin, the respondent's in-house solicitor at the time, but that correspondence had continued to be sent to his email address even though the claimant's email suggested he may have left the respondent's employ.

The Tribunal recorded that it was unclear whether that explained the absence of communication, but it emphasised that it was the respondent's responsibility to ensure that the Tribunal had up to date contact details. As the respondent had made the application but did not attend or arrange representation at the hearing to determine it, the application was dismissed.