Miss Olivia Foulkes v Natalie Evans — 2023

The tribunal struck out the respondent’s response under Rule 37 of the Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure 2013 because of unreasonable conduct and non-compliance with orders. The respondent had failed to comply with earlier case management orders requiring documents, witness summaries, and explanations for non-attendance, and did not attend the 14 December 2022 telephone hearing. Employment Judge Alliott concluded that the respondent was capable of communicating by email, telephone and WhatsApp, but was choosing not to participate.

Having struck out the response, the tribunal considered the claim on the available material. The claimant said her employment ended on 25 October 2021 and that she was owed £470 for work done in October 2021, calculated at 47 hours at £10 per hour. The respondent had said the employment ended in September 2021, but the tribunal accepted the claimant’s evidence about the October work and noted that an invoice had been sent to the respondent setting out the dates and hours worked.

The tribunal found that the respondent owed the claimant £470, subject to any relevant tax and National Insurance deductions, and held that the claimant’s breach of contract claim was well founded. The reasons also refer to the sum being recoverable as an unauthorised deduction of wages and/or breach of contract. Judgment was entered for £470.