Mr H Smith Langridge v Fusion Consulting Group Limited — 2025

The tribunal considered the respondent's application to strike out the claim after the claimant did not attend the hearing and there had been a failure to exchange witness statements. The tribunal noted that the underlying claim was described as constructive dismissal, but the hearing concerned strike out, postponement, absence and costs rather than the substantive merits of that claim.

The tribunal refused strike out. It found that, although the non-compliance was significant and the final hearing could not proceed, it was not satisfied that a fair trial would be impossible in the future. The tribunal considered that adjournment and an unless order would be a more proportionate response, with any unfairness from the claimant having seen the respondent's statements capable of being addressed by an application to exclude material.

The tribunal granted the respondent's costs application. It found that the claimant's representative had acted disruptively and unreasonably in the conduct of the proceedings, and ordered the claimant to pay the respondent's costs of the hearing, assessed at £1,320.