Mr Jose Teixeira v Plaza Premium Lounge (UK) Limited RECORD OF A PRELIMINARY HEARING — 2025

The parties agreed that Mr Jose Teixeira had been employed by Plaza Premium Lounge (UK) Limited as a kitchen assistant/porter from 28 December 2017 until 19 January 2024, when he was dismissed without notice. In his claim presented on 21 April 2024, after ACAS early conciliation, he said he had been unfairly dismissed, subjected to race discrimination, and was owed notice pay and holiday pay.

Employment Judge T Brown noted that the claim appeared to have been presented out of time because the effective date of termination was 19 January 2024. The judge also recorded that the claimant's race discrimination case was unclear: the complaint referred to both the absence of a Konkani interpreter and the conduct of a Konkani interpreter, and it was not clear whether he alleged direct or indirect race discrimination or whether any alleged discrimination related to the dismissal process or only to the decision to dismiss.

The tribunal had previously ordered the claimant to provide further information identifying each alleged discriminatory detriment and any comparators, but there was no engagement with that order. The respondent also chased the claimant by email in January 2025 without response, and there had been no communication from the claimant since the claim was started. The claimant did not attend the hearing and had provided no alternative contact details.

Applying rule 47 of the Employment Tribunal Procedure Rules 2024, the judge decided to dismiss the claim because the available evidence pointed to total disengagement and apparent abandonment of the proceedings. The judge said that, if the claimant had a good reason for not attending, that could be addressed on reconsideration, but in the absence of any engagement it was in the interests of justice to dismiss the claim rather than continue to manage it in the claimant's absence.