Marina Brookes v Progabbana Ltd — 2023

Marina Brookes presented a claim on 1 August 2022 and indicated that she was claiming unfair dismissal and arrears of pay. In her claim form she said she had worked as a delivery driver between 13 February 2022 and 14 May 2022, described herself as self-employed but said she had been advised that the contract was not legitimate, and referred to deductions from payments, a disagreement with Andrew about those deductions, and an incident in which she said she was bitten by a dog and not allowed to go to hospital immediately. The Respondent denied employment status, said she had worked between 10 March 2022 and 14 May 2022, and said she had been let go because she was not making deliveries on time and was unreliable in turning up for work.

The tribunal sent a strike out warning on the unfair dismissal issue because the claimant appeared to have less than two years' service within section 108 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. The claimant did not respond to the warning, did not comply with the case management orders, and did not attend the final hearing on 15 May 2023. The tribunal waited briefly after telephoning the claimant, but no response was received.

The judge decided not to adjourn because no adjournment had been requested and no reason for absence had been provided. The tribunal then decided it could not fairly proceed with the claims in the claimant's absence. It noted that the unfair dismissal claim appeared unlikely to satisfy the qualifying service requirement, and that the only other potentially viable claim was an unlawful deduction from wages claim, but there was a dispute about worker status and the claim form did not identify what deductions were being complained of. The claims were therefore dismissed under Rule 47 of the Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure 2013 for non-attendance.