Slawomir Lazdzin v Messiah Corporation Limited — 2021

The tribunal first considered limitation and found the claim was in time. Mr Lazdzin was dismissed on 5 February 2021, the three-month period expired on 4 May 2021, and the tribunal added 23 days for early conciliation between 15 February and 8 March 2021. On that calculation, the ET1 presented on 27 May 2021 was within time.

The respondent did not attend the telephone hearing, was not represented, and sent no submissions. The tribunal noted that it had been notified of the hearing. It struck out the response under rule 47 because of non-attendance, and also under rule 37(1)(a), (c) and (d), finding no reasonable prospect of success, non-compliance with an order for further and better particulars, and that the response had not been actively pursued.

The tribunal also considered the substance of the grounds of resistance, which consisted of numbered statements headed "Facts" and allegations said to be from different people. It recorded that those documents did not deal with the merits of the claim, other than asserting that summary dismissal was appropriate. The tribunal accepted the claimant's schedule of loss as accurate and entered judgment for £1,978.60 unlawful deductions from wages, £453.91 holiday pay, and £810.55 notice pay, making a total award of £3,243.06.