Mrs Marilyn Appiah v Dr French Memorial Home Limited — 2023

The claimant did not attend the hearing on 8 March 2023. Following that hearing, the tribunal ordered her to confirm whether she intended to continue the proceedings, to identify which claims she was pursuing after reading the tribunal's summary, and to explain her non-attendance. The order made clear that non-compliance could have consequences.

On 29 May 2023, the tribunal determined that the claim should be struck out for non-compliance with those orders and because it was not being actively pursued. The tribunal then noted that the wrong pro forma letter had been used on 31 May 2023, so the claimant was inadvertently given a further opportunity to respond.

The claimant's first communication after the hearing was an email on 12 June 2023 asking for a hearing and referring to previous correspondence, but she did not produce that correspondence or explain when it had been sent. The tribunal found that no such correspondence had been received and determined that it had not been sent. The email did not answer the questions in the tribunal's earlier order and did not explain the non-compliance.

The tribunal held that the claimant remained in breach of the previous orders, had not explained why a hearing was necessary or appropriate, and that an oral hearing would not be an effective use of tribunal resources. It concluded that there was no confidence the claimant would comply with future case management orders and that a fair hearing was not possible. The case was therefore struck out pursuant to Rule 37(1)(c) of the Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure 2013.