Miss Harkin, Friend For the v Respondent — 2021

This was a reconsideration judgment, not a merits decision on the underlying employment claims. Employment Judge Postle, sitting alone on 28 January 2022, reconsidered and revoked the default judgment dated 28 April 2021 and sent to the parties on 4 May 2021. The respondent's application for an extension of time to file its response was granted, and the response filed on 7 May 2021 was accepted.

The tribunal recorded that the respondent said it had never received service of the ET1, and the office for service during the pandemic may have missed it. The application for reconsideration followed promptly after the default judgment, and the judge applied Rules 70 to 72, the overriding objective, and the separate rule dealing with late responses and extensions of time. The judge concluded that the prejudice to the respondent in allowing the matter to proceed to a full hearing outweighed the prejudice to the claimant in losing the default judgment, and that this was a proportionate decision in the interests of justice.