Ms K Hunter v Represented by: Not present Take a Break Cleaning Limited — 2020

This was a preliminary hearing fixed to determine Ms K Hunter's unfair dismissal claim. The ET1 had been presented on 27 March 2020, and a prior preliminary hearing on 3 August 2020 had identified the issues and made case management orders, including preparation of a chronology, statement of agreed facts, a joint bundle and witness statements.

The respondent attended the CVP hearing with a witness and had provided its statement and papers. The claimant did not attend the hearing, did not attend the earlier test for the CVP hearing, and had not complied with the case management orders. The tribunal recorded that reasonable attempts were made to contact her without success.

The tribunal was satisfied that the remote hearing had been conducted fairly and appropriately and that it was in the interests of justice to dismiss the claim under Rule 47 of the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2013. In reaching that conclusion, the Employment Judge took account of the time and cost already incurred by the respondent, the claimant's failure to engage after the preliminary hearing, and the fact that the respondent had complied with the agreed directions.

The judgment notes that there may have been issues in connection with the procedure before dismissal, and that the respondent may not have followed the ACAS Code of Practice on disciplinary matters, but the tribunal did not decide those merits issues because the claim was dismissed for non-attendance. The claimant was told that she could seek reconsideration under Rule 70 if she had a good reason for non-attendance or for the case not having progressed.