Mr D Stewardson v Royal Mail Group Ltd PRELIMINARY HEARING — 2020

The claimant, Mr D Stewardson, brought complaints of unfair dismissal, non-payment of notice pay, and non-payment of holiday pay. The matter came before Employment Judge Brian Doyle at a preliminary hearing on 30 October 2020, heard in public by telephone conference, with the claimant not in attendance or represented and the respondent represented by Ms S Lewis, solicitor.

The tribunal recorded that the claimant had presented his ET1 on 27 March 2020 after complying with Acas Early Conciliation in February 2020. The respondent filed its ET3 on 1 June 2020 and later disclosed documents, but the tribunal found that the claimant had not complied with the case management orders issued on 14 July 2020, had not responded to the tribunal's letter of 18 September 2020, and had not engaged properly with correspondence from the tribunal or the respondent. The tribunal also noted that the claimant's representative, Mr Ryan Ward of the CWU, had come off the record on 8 October 2020.

Applying rule 37 of the Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure 2013, the tribunal was satisfied that the claimant had not complied with case management orders and was not actively pursuing the claim. It considered itself cautious about strike out, but noted that even when the claimant was represented the orders did not appear to be complied with, and that he had not defended the strike out application or sought to participate in the hearing. The tribunal therefore struck out the claim under rules 37(1)(c) and (d). It stated that the claimant could ask for reconsideration if he could demonstrate that he was in a position to pursue the claim through a properly reasoned and timely application.