Mr Shaukat Ali v Quad Professional Service Limited and 1 other — 2022

Mr Shaukat Ali presented a claim on 1 April 2022 for unlawful deductions from wages. The claim form named Mr John Akinyode, but the ACAS certificate identified Quad Professional Service Limited, and the form was incomplete and inconsistent as to the employment period and the amount claimed, which was said to be around £2,500.

A notice of hearing was sent for a final telephone hearing on 4 August 2022, together with orders requiring the Claimant to set out how much he claimed and how it was calculated, and to send supporting documents to the Respondent and Tribunal. The Respondent filed a response denying the claim, disputing the period of employment, and saying the Claimant had not worked for the period claimed and that later engagements were on a voluntary basis.

Neither party attended the hearing. The clerk tried to contact the Claimant three times but reached voicemail each time, and there was no further correspondence from him on the Tribunal system. The Respondent was contacted and said Mr Akinyode had gone to hospital urgently that morning and nobody else could deal with the claim.

Employment Judge Sugarman applied Rule 47 of the Employment Tribunal Rules and the guidance in Roberts v Skelmersdale College. The Judge held that the Claimant had provided no evidence, had not complied with the Tribunal's orders, and had not explained his absence. The Judge also considered an adjournment but decided it would not be right to relist the matter because there was no basis to think the position would be different and the delay would be undesirable. The claim was therefore dismissed under Rule 47.