In Person For the v Unrepresented — 2019

The claimant presented a claim form on 14 August 2017 complaining of race discrimination. At a preliminary hearing on 18 January 2018, the respondent was substituted as the sole respondent, and Employment Judge Henry made case management orders requiring further particulars, a response, disclosure, witness statements and a schedule of loss.

The claimant did not initially comply with the order for further particulars, and a series of Tribunal communications followed. The judgment records confusion arising from the correspondence and listing information, and notes that the respondent repeatedly chased the Tribunal to understand the status of the case. The claimant eventually sent particulars by email on 1 July 2018, which meant he had complied with the later unless order, but the earlier timetable for the respondent's response and evidence had not been properly updated.

At the hearing on 10 September 2018, the respondent did not attend because its principal witness, Mr Yianni, was engaged elsewhere. The Tribunal considered that, in light of the procedural history and the fact that the case was not ready for hearing, the only just course was to adjourn the matter. The case was relisted for three days on 1, 2 and 3 April 2019 at Cambridge Employment Tribunal. No substantive finding on the race discrimination claim and no remedy were recorded in this judgment.