Mr D Sharkey v ACE Scaffolding (M/CR) Ltd ACE Scaffolding LLP — 2023

The claimant, Mr D Sharkey, did not attend the third preliminary hearing. The tribunal recorded that after an earlier non-attendance, Employment Judge Newstead-Taylor had sent a detailed case summary explaining that the tribunal had a discretion to dismiss for non-attendance. The tribunal had also written to the claimant on 28 October 2022 indicating that Employment Judge Holmes was considering strike out because the claim was not being actively pursued, and the claimant replied that he had “totally forgotten”.

On 1 December 2022 the claimant emailed the tribunal saying he needed help preparing paperwork, referred to HMRC taking part of his weekly wage, and said he suffered from bad depression and PTSD and was finding it difficult to carry on. The matter was then relisted for a further preliminary hearing. On 13 January 2023 the tribunal sent him a letter stating that his claim would not be struck out, that one further case management preliminary hearing would be listed, and that he must be prepared and must participate.

The claimant did not dial in to the hearing on 22 February 2023. At the judge’s request, the tribunal clerk telephoned him at 2.19pm. He said he was in Ireland, referred to his own and his wife’s medical conditions, said he had found it hard to get his paperwork together, had a poor telephone signal, had not prepared for the hearing, and believed he had sent an email asking for postponement. The judge found no postponement request in the inbox, concluded that no further enquiries were practicable, and decided that the overriding objective was best achieved by dismissing the claim because the case had been ongoing since 2020 and further delay should be avoided. The judgment does not contain merits findings on the underlying employment claims.