Mr M Stabrawa Ms E Stabrawa v K E Kents Holdings Limited and 3 others — 2022

This was a preliminary hearing on 17 March 2022 before Employment Judge B Elgot, sitting remotely by CVP. The judge heard evidence from Mr D J Nolan and Mr K E Kent, together with written and oral submissions from both sides. No substantive liability findings were made at this hearing.

The tribunal held that the correct employer of both claimants is the second respondent, K E Kents Limited. It ordered that the first respondent, K E Kents Holdings Limited, remains a party to the proceedings. The judgment also records that no default judgment had been issued or promulgated in any of the eight cases, despite references to one in correspondence.

The respondents were permitted to amend their grounds of resistance in case 3204598/21 by withdrawing an admission and substituting wording under the heading "Unpaid Wages". The judge stated that the question of the Second Claimant's employment would be decided at the final hearing. Time for presenting the responses was extended to 24 March 2022, and the amended grounds of resistance were accepted out of time as disclosing a robust and properly particularised defence that was not without reasonable prospect of success.

The claimants were also permitted to add a claim that neither had been given written particulars of their terms and conditions of employment as required by sections 1-4 Employment Rights Act 1996. The final hearing was listed for 24, 25, 26 and 27 October 2023.