did not attend For the v Ms H Marsland (solicitor) Ms K Dennis (solicitor) — 2021

At the preliminary hearing on 12 January 2021, heard by CVP in Manchester, the claimant did not attend and gave no explanation. The case had already been case managed at a preliminary hearing on 12 March 2020, when it was listed for a full merits hearing on 27, 28 and 29 January 2021, and on 12 August 2020 the Tribunal had noted that the claimant had supplied further information only to the Tribunal, not to the respondent, before varying the outstanding case management orders.

The respondent applied for strike out on 16 September 2020 and again on 25 November 2020. Employment Judge Johnson rejected the respondent's Rule 37(1)(a) argument that the claim had no reasonable prospects of success, saying there was enough in the claimant's further information to indicate potential age and race discrimination claims. However, the Tribunal held that the claimant had failed to comply with case management order 4.1 and, more importantly, had not actively pursued the proceedings within Rule 37(1)(d), so the claim was struck out and the merits hearing was postponed.