Ms P Hylton v Citizens Advice Waltham Forest Limited — 2021

Ms Hylton brought two linked claims. In the first, presented on 13 November 2019, the tribunal had earlier clarified that she was pursuing direct race discrimination, harassment related to race, and unlawful victimisation. In the second claim, presented on 16 March 2020 after her dismissal, she claimed unfair dismissal and said that the dismissal was race discrimination and unlawful victimisation.

The full hearing was listed for 6 July 2021 by Cloud Video Platform. The tribunal recorded that the claimant had been sent hearing information and guidance about joining remotely, and that she did not raise any concerns about CVP access until 2 July 2021, when she said she did not have reliable digital access and would attend in person. On the morning of the hearing she telephoned the tribunal and said she was self-isolating due to COVID-19 and could not attend. The tribunal noted inconsistencies between that explanation and her earlier email, and also noted that the asserted reasons were not evidenced and were raised very late.

The tribunal considered rule 47 of the Employment Tribunal Rules 2013 and whether to proceed in the claimant's absence. It decided that it was not appropriate to hear the case in her absence because the issues were fact-sensitive and would be academic without her participation. It therefore dismissed the claims for non-attendance, recording that the claimant had not provided sufficient evidence for her absence and that the reasons advanced were undermined by inconsistencies. No substantive findings were made on the discrimination, victimisation, harassment, or unfair dismissal allegations, and no remedy was awarded.