C Nwachukwu v Queen Mary University of London — 2024

The hearing was converted from a private case management hearing into a public hearing to consider strike out because of the Claimant's lack of response to correspondence and failure actively to pursue the claim. Shortly before the hearing, the Claimant's solicitor sent a revised list of issues and agenda; these omitted the public interest disclosure claim and referred to intended amendments to add disability discrimination claims, but no formal amendment application had been made.

The Respondent applied to strike out the claim, relying on failures to comply with tribunal orders, absence of a schedule of loss, failure to comment on the draft list of issues and agenda, and the lack of any application to amend despite previous indications that one would be made. The Claimant's solicitor apologised and said he had been seeking information needed for an amendment application, but the tribunal found the explanations were inadequate and contradictory.

Applying Rule 37, the tribunal struck out the entirety of the claim. It found that the Claimant's conduct was unreasonable, that tribunal orders had not been complied with, and that the claim had not been actively pursued. The tribunal considered an unless order inappropriate, noting the extended period of non-compliance, the lack of a coherent explanation, the last-minute documents, and the tribunal's lack of confidence that matters would improve.