B Attila v K Halal Food Ltd — 2022

On 21 March 2022 the Tribunal made a case management order, but the Claimant did not comply with it. The Tribunal wrote on 16 July 2022 saying that an Employment Judge was considering striking out the claim for unreasonable conduct, failure to comply with Tribunal orders, and not actively pursuing the claim. The Claimant replied on 30 July 2022 saying that he had technical and mental health problems and was seeking assistance, but he did not give any indication of when he might comply with the order.

The Tribunal wrote again on 22 August 2022, setting out what the Claimant had to do and suggesting ways he might do it, and warning that the claim might be struck out if he did not comply by 05 September 2022. On 24 August 2022 the Claimant said he had an appointment with a lawyer on 01 September 2022 and that his medication made it hard to concentrate. Whitechapel Legal Advice Centre then wrote on 02 September 2022 saying they were volunteer advisers, not acting for him, and that he said he needed another one to two months to deal with the case management order.

The Employment Judge applied Rule 37 and found that the case management order had been outstanding for nearly six months, that there was no likelihood of compliance in the immediate future, and that no medical evidence had been provided to support the explanation given for non-compliance. The Tribunal concluded that there comes a time when a case cannot be allowed to continue where a party does not comply with case management orders, and held that that time had come. The claim was therefore struck out for failure to comply with the order of 21 March 2022 and because it was not being actively pursued.