Case 3203189/2022 · Employment Tribunal
Mr Laxman Akula v John Lewis plc and 2 others — 2025
- Case reference
- 3203189/2022
- Decision date
- 25 March 2025
- Jurisdiction
- England & Wales
- Judge
- Employment Judge Gardiner
Parties
4 namedClaimant
Mr Laxman Akula
Respondents
- John Lewis plc
- Ms A Brosnan-Guers
- Ms R Rodrigues DECISION ON APPLICATION FOR RECONSIDERATION (Rules 68 – 71 Employment Tribunal Rules 2024) 1. I have seen an email dated 25 March 2025 from Mr Mustafa Ibrahim who is acting as the Claimant’s representative. The email was sent to me on 7 April 2025 and I have treated it as an application for reconsideration of the
Key findings
Tribunal's reasoningThe Tribunal treated the claimant's representative's email dated 25 March 2025 as an application for reconsideration of the judgment dated 4 March 2025. The Employment Judge refused the application and confirmed the earlier judgment striking out all claims.
The claims were struck out under Rule 38(1)(e) of the Employment Tribunal Rules 2024 because the Tribunal considered that it was no longer possible to have a fair hearing. The reasons included the claimant's non-attendance at preliminary hearings, lack of medical evidence addressing whether or when he could participate in the proceedings, lack of progress in clarifying the issues, and prejudice to the respondents from continued indefinite delay.
The Tribunal also declined to change the earlier refusal of a postponement. It noted that the postponement request concerned the representative's health, that no supporting medical evidence had been provided for the claimant's inability to attend, and that neither the claimant nor his representative attended the 4 March 2025 hearing despite the hearing proceeding as listed.
Claims and outcomes
7 findings recorded| Claim type | Issue or finding | Outcome | Protected characteristic | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whistleblowing | The judgment referred to whistleblowing/health and safety detriment claims and confirmed that all claims were struck out under Rule 38(1)(e). | Struck out | — | — |
| Unfair dismissal | The judgment confirmed that all claims, including unfair dismissal, were struck out under Rule 38(1)(e) because a fair hearing was no longer possible. | Struck out | — | — |
| Race discrimination | The judgment confirmed that all claims, including race discrimination, were struck out under Rule 38(1)(e) because a fair hearing was no longer possible. | Struck out | Race | — |
| Disability discrimination | The judgment confirmed that all claims, including disability discrimination, were struck out under Rule 38(1)(e) because a fair hearing was no longer possible. | Struck out | Disability | — |
| Breach of contract | The judgment confirmed that all claims, including breach of contract, were struck out under Rule 38(1)(e) because a fair hearing was no longer possible. | Struck out | — | — |
| Holiday pay | The judgment confirmed that all claims, including holiday pay, were struck out under Rule 38(1)(e) because a fair hearing was no longer possible. | Struck out |
Legal tests applied
3 references- Rule 38(1)(e) Employment Tribunal Rules 2024
- Rule 47 Employment Tribunal Rules 2024
- Rules 68-71 Employment Tribunal Rules 2024
Official outcome judgment PDF
Gov.uk primary recordThe official judgment PDF on gov.uk contains the tribunal's outcome, reasoning, and any remedy details. Where this page does not yet show extracted outcomes for every claim, use the PDF as the authoritative source.
Published on gov.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
How we got this data
Case essentials (reference, date, judge, venue, country, claim categories) are extracted from the structured metadata gov.uk publishes alongside each decision. Parties and monetary figures are extracted from the judgment PDF text. Key findings and per-claim outcomes require a second extraction pass that is not yet complete for this case — until then, the primary source linked above is the authoritative record. See full methodology.
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