Mr M Williams v UC Franchising Ltd t/a Urban Chocolatier — 2023

This was a case management judgment, not a merits judgment. The tribunal recorded that the respondent’s representative applied orally to clarify and amend the respondent’s identity from “Wax” to UC Franchising Ltd t/a Urban Chocolatier. The claimant did not object and accepted that UC Franchising Ltd t/a Urban Chocolatier had been his employer at all material times, so the tribunal made an order under Rule 34 amending the case record to name that company as the respondent.

The tribunal also granted the respondent’s application under Rule 20 to extend time for presentation of the ET3 response. It accepted the late ET3 emailed on 14 April 2023 and allowed the case to proceed as defended. The tribunal waived the usual requirement for the ET3 to be served by the tribunal because the claimant had been copied into the email and the respondent undertook to refile and re-serve the ET3 and accepted response within seven days.

No findings were made on the underlying employment claims, and no liability or remedy was determined at this hearing. The tribunal instead listed the matter for a three-hour final hearing by Cloud Video Platform before an Employment Judge sitting alone at the East London Tribunal Hearing Centre on 13 June 2023, with liability and remedy both to be investigated and determined then. The tribunal also stated that case management orders for the final hearing would be issued separately.