Mr A Younas v International Television Channel Limited — 2023

At a preliminary hearing on 13 February 2023, Employment Judge Heath considered the respondent's application to strike out the claimant's claims for non-compliance with tribunal orders and for not having been actively pursued. The tribunal had previously ordered the claimant, following a case management preliminary hearing on 11 October 2022, to provide details of any proposed amendment and information about the protected disclosures relied on for his automatic unfair dismissal claim by 8 November 2022. A strike-out warning had then been issued on 29 November 2022, and the respondent applied to strike out the claims on 29 December 2022.

The tribunal found that the claimant had breached the orders and that these were serious defaults which had inconvenienced the respondent and affected preparation of the case. However, it also recorded that by 9 February 2023 the claimant had emailed the tribunal saying that he did not propose to amend his claim and had provided information about the protected disclosures on which he relied. The claimant's counsel submitted that, although the defaults were not excused, there was still time to get the case back on track and a fair hearing remained possible.

Applying Rule 37, the tribunal held that there was a less drastic way forward than strike out and that a fair hearing was still possible. It decided to vary the case management orders and to require the parties to work quickly to prepare the matter for the final hearing listed for May 2023. The tribunal also said it would attach unless orders to the claimant's disclosure and witness statement obligations. The judgment did not determine the merits of the underlying unfair dismissal or protected disclosure claims, and no monetary remedy was awarded.