Mrs K Seton Rogers v Aerospace Metrology & Electromechanical Calibration Limited RECORD OF A HEARING — 2025

This was a remote final hearing of Mrs K Seton Rogers' claim against Aerospace Metrology & Electromechanical Calibration Limited before Employment Judge T Brown on 19 March 2025. The claimant was not present or represented. The respondent was represented by Mr L Baker, consultant. The tribunal had a 72-page bundle and a witness statement for Mr Steve Oxborough from the respondent, but no papers from the claimant.

The claim had been listed for final hearing on three occasions. The judgment records that the claimant had previously sought a postponement, had attended the 15 November 2024 hearing, and knew the case had been relisted for 19 March 2025. On 18 March 2025, after business hours, she emailed the tribunal copying the respondent and said she had not been able to get out of work the following day and asked for the hearing to be rescheduled.

The judge caused the claimant to be contacted on the morning of the hearing and delayed the start until 10:25am so that she could join, even briefly, to deal with her postponement request. The claimant did not attend or communicate further. The respondent said there had been no compliance by the claimant with the case management orders made by Employment Judge O'Dempsey on 15 November 2024, and the judge found that the claimant had not provided documents, a witness statement, or a quantified claim despite earlier directions.

Applying rule 47 of the Employment Tribunal Procedure Rules 2024, the judge dismissed the claim because the claimant had failed to attend and the tribunal had insufficient information to decide the case in her absence. The reasons note that the judge considered there might have been valid criticisms of the respondent's handling of wages, but concluded that dismissal was appropriate given the claimant's repeated non-attendance, late postponement request, and failure to comply with the tribunal's orders.