Mr J Wisniewski v Volution Ventilation UK Ltd (Division Of Volution Group Plc) — 2020

This was a record of a preliminary hearing before Employment Judge Anstis sitting alone on 8 April 2020. The hearing was conducted by telephone because of the Covid-19 restrictions, and the claimant and his representative did not attend. The tribunal noted that the respondent's strike-out application and related unless order request could not properly be considered at this hearing because the matter had become a private preliminary hearing and the claimant had not had a proper opportunity to respond.

The tribunal therefore did not determine the merits of the underlying claims. Instead, it directed that the issues identified in the earlier case management order, including the respondent's application dated 25 February 2020, would be dealt with at a further open preliminary hearing on 6 and 7 July 2020, with the remaining full-hearing dates cancelled and the full hearing relisted. The claimant's application dated 4 March 2020 for specific disclosure and a particular means of exchange of documents was refused because the judge could not see the relevance of the requested documents to the matters due to be considered at the preliminary hearing and considered a specific exchange direction unnecessary.

The tribunal also revoked the orders set out at paragraphs 29, 32, 33 and 34 of the case management order of 2 July 2019, leaving preparation for the full hearing to be reconsidered at the later preliminary hearing. A further order required the claimant's representative to provide a contact telephone number within 14 days of the order being sent.