Mr J Wells v Oakdene Care Home Ltd — 2022

The claimant, Mr J Wells, did not attend the hearing on 8 February 2022 and was not represented. The tribunal also noted that the claimant had previously failed to attend a preliminary hearing and that the case had a history of non-compliance with case management orders and non-cooperation with the respondent.

Employment Judge Ord recorded that the tribunal had already given the claimant, through his father and lay representative Ivor Wells, further opportunities to participate after earlier adjournments. On this occasion neither the claimant nor his father attended, and the claimant's sister only dialled in to pass on a message about her father's hospital appointment before saying that she was not representing the claimant.

The tribunal considered whether to postpone the hearing under rule 30A but found no exceptional circumstances to justify further delay. Applying the overriding objective in rule 2, and taking account of the need to avoid delay, the tribunal struck out all of the claimant's complaints because he had not complied with the tribunal's order and had not actively pursued the case. No substantive findings on the underlying complaint were made and no monetary award was recorded.