Not present or represented For the v Ms C Smith, Chair of Trustees — 2020

The claimant’s claims were listed to be heard on 30 June 2020 and were heard by video conference under the CVP system after the tribunal converted the hearing because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The claimant was not present. Her solicitor had emailed the tribunal the previous day to say that they no longer had instructions and were no longer acting for her, and asked that future correspondence be sent directly to the claimant.

When the hearing began, Employment Judge Hyams adjourned to read the papers and to allow time for the claimant to attend, but she did not appear. The judge also checked whether she had attended the tribunal building, whether there had been any telephone call, and whether any email had been received about the hearing. No such attendance or contact was recorded.

The tribunal noted that the claimant’s claims were principally for unpaid wages, a redundancy payment, and unfair dismissal. The respondent denied the claims and said, among other things, that the claimant had been a volunteer until 31 January 2019 and then worked on a fixed-term paid basis until 31 March 2019, but the tribunal made no merits findings on those issues.

Applying rule 47 of the Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure 2013, the judge dismissed the claims because the claimant had failed, apparently without good reason, to attend or be represented at the hearing and the tribunal considered that the claims were not being actively pursued.