Ellie Church v Medicare EMS Group UK Limited and 1 other — 2023

Ellie Church presented a claim form on 19 January 2023 against Medicare EMS Group UK Limited, later with Rapid Response Medical Services Ltd (In Administration) added as a second respondent. The claims pleaded were unfair dismissal, discrimination because of pregnancy or maternity, and notice pay. The tribunal noted that the background issue in dispute was whether there had been a TUPE transfer from Rapid to Medicare, including whether the claimant had been assigned to the transferring part of the business.

At a preliminary hearing on 19 June 2023, case management orders were made for disclosure, witness statements, and confirmation of readiness for the hearing. By the time of the public preliminary hearing on 29 August 2023, the claimant had not complied with those orders, had not provided witness evidence, and had not responded to correspondence from the respondent raising concerns that the claims were no longer being pursued. The claimant did not attend the hearing, did not answer calls, and did not respond to voicemail or email from the tribunal.

Employment Judge Sugarman also addressed whether recusal was needed because he knew counsel and the respondent's instructing solicitor in a professional capacity. Applying Porter v Magill and Locabail, he concluded that a fair-minded and informed observer would not see a real possibility of bias and that recusal was unnecessary. On the merits of case management, the judge found the claimant's failure to progress the claim had been intentional and inexcusable, that she held key evidence needed to determine the TUPE issue, and that it would not be fair or in the interests of justice to decide the transfer question without her participation. The claim was therefore struck out under Rule 37(1)(d) for not being actively pursued; in the alternative, it would have been dismissed under Rule 47 because of the claimant's non-attendance. The tribunal noted that if the claimant later had a good reason for her default, she could apply for reconsideration.