Mr S Godfri Gnanasegaran v Ladbrokes Betting and Gaming Ltd — 2021

Mr S Godfri Gnanasegaran brought claims of unfair dismissal and race discrimination against Ladbrokes Betting and Gaming Ltd arising from his dismissal in a restructuring linked to the reduction to £2 a spin in fixed odds betting machines. The respondent said the restructure created a substantial redundancy situation, and the judgment records that the claimant had been one of a number of redundancies.

On 16 February 2021, shortly before the listed hearing, the claimant asked for a postponement. He said he wanted the case postponed until the pandemic ended, referred to being affected himself, mentioned his wife’s medical position after a stroke, said his solicitors had come off the record, and asked for time to obtain legal help. Dr Ahmed opposed the application, and the tribunal recorded that the hearing had been listed for five months and that witnesses were present.

The tribunal refused the postponement. It held that the application had been made less than seven days before the hearing and that Rule 30A of the Employment Tribunals Rules allowed postponement only in limited circumstances, which were not made out on the evidence before it. The tribunal noted that the claimant had not said he was personally ill, had not identified any internet or technical difficulty with a virtual hearing, and had not shown exceptional circumstances.

The claimant’s email suggested he would withdraw the claims if postponement was refused, but the tribunal did not treat the claims as withdrawn. It then applied Rule 47 on non-attendance, noted that it had made such enquiries as were practicable, and decided to dismiss the claims rather than proceed in the claimant’s absence. The tribunal said the respondent’s witness evidence and case on the redundancy process would not be challenged by cross-examination and, without evidence from the claimant, it could not find for him.