Mr Paul Gilby v Brian Colledge — 2023

The tribunal held a telephone preliminary hearing on 20 July 2023. The respondent attended, but the claimant did not attend and neither did the claimant's son, who was named as his representative. The tribunal was unable to contact them on the telephone numbers provided on the claim form.

After that hearing, the tribunal gave the claimant an opportunity to make representations or request a hearing on why the claim should not be struck out for not being actively pursued. The claimant's son sent short emails on 31 July 2023, 6 September 2023 and 19 September 2023 seeking to have the matter reheard and saying the tribunal had the wrong number for the claimant, but no detailed explanation for the non-attendance was provided.

On 2 October 2023 the tribunal sent notice of a preliminary hearing for 14 November 2023 and warned that the claimant's 19 September 2023 email would not be considered unless it was copied to the respondent and the tribunal was told that had been done. No such confirmation was received. The tribunal found that the claimant received the notice, failed to copy the email to the respondent, failed to comply with the order, and had no acceptable explanation for not attending either the 20 July 2023 hearing or the later hearing. The claim was therefore struck out under rule 37. The reasons include one reference to a hearing on 14 October 2023, but the notice and final reasons otherwise refer to 14 November 2023.