Mr Alistair Payne v TMS Limited — 2024

The matter was listed for a final hearing on 9 October 2024. The claimant did not attend. On 6 October 2024 he wrote to the tribunal saying he did not have the strength to carry on with the claim and might not be able to attend because of a possible hospital appointment, but there was no medical evidence or evidence of any appointment. After that correspondence, Employment Judge Heap refused a postponement and converted the hearing into a preliminary hearing to consider the respondent's strike out application and, if the claimant did not attend, Rule 47. That decision was communicated to the parties on 8 October 2024.

On 9 October 2024 the claimant wrote again saying he was unable to attend, but gave no reason and produced no medical evidence or evidence of a hospital appointment. The claimant had been sent a Notice of Final Hearing dated 9 July 2024, with numerous case management orders, and the tribunal recorded that he had not complied with any of them. The respondent had complied as far as possible and had on occasions notified the tribunal and the claimant about the non-compliance.

Employment Judge Cansick found that the claimant had notice of the hearing and had chosen not to attend, and that he had also chosen not to comply with the case management orders. The judge found there was no evidence that the claimant would attend future proceedings and that there was insufficient evidence to determine the claim in his absence. Taking the overriding objective in Rule 2 into account, the tribunal dismissed the claim pursuant to Rule 47 of the Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure 2013.