In person For the v Respondent — 2025

The claimant, an urology registrar employed from 10 May 2014 to 4 August 2023, had brought a claim alleging arrears of pay. The hearing listed for 3 September 2025 did not proceed to the merits. Instead, the tribunal dealt with the claimant's late application to adjourn after he said he had fractured his coccyx. The judge granted the adjournment reluctantly, taking account of the claimant's discomfort and asserted inability to concentrate, but also noting that he had not prepared the case, had not exchanged documents or a witness statement, and had not even set out the amount claimed by way of unpaid wages.

The tribunal recorded that there was no medical evidence showing the claimant could not take part in a three-hour CVP hearing, and the claimant said he was still working, walking to clinics and seeing patients. The judge also noted the claimant's lack of engagement with the respondent's correspondence, and that the late adjournment application was made after the respondent had incurred counsel costs and the hearing had been allocated judicial time. Under rule 74(2)(c) of the Employment Tribunal Procedure Rules 2024, the tribunal ordered the claimant to pay the respondent's costs of the adjourned hearing in the sum of £1,250 plus VAT, and said there was no reason to think he did not have the means to pay.