No attendance or v Respondent — 2022

The tribunal recorded that the case concerned about six weeks' employment between late June and early August 2019, and that the primary claims were of discrimination on grounds of race and/or sexual orientation. The claimant had taken part in earlier case management hearings and had submitted a witness statement, but at the final hearing on 5 July 2022 he did not attend and could not be contacted by telephone using the number on the ET1.

Before deciding the respondent's application, the tribunal noted the claimant's earlier email of 9 November 2021 saying he would be dropping the claim, followed later by a March 2022 email stating that he had decided to continue. It also recorded that he did not reply to the tribunal's April 2022 enquiry about readiness for the hearing and did not return the pre-hearing checklist, despite being warned that the claim could be struck out if it was not actively pursued.

Applying Rule 37, the tribunal held that the claim had not been actively pursued and that the claimant's conduct of the litigation was unreasonable. It found there was no basis to adjourn the hearing, because there had been no communication from the claimant explaining his absence or disengagement and no reason to think he would conduct the case differently in future. The tribunal therefore struck out the claim. It added that, if asked under Rule 47, it would have dismissed the case. A provisional costs hearing was listed for 16 November 2022, but no costs order was made in this judgment.