ETZ 4(WR) EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS (SCOTLAND) Case No: 4106915/2017 Preliminary Hearing at Edinburgh on October 2018 Employment Judge: M A Macleod (sitting alone) Kathleen Dykes v Whitbread Group plc — 2018

The Tribunal considered the respondent's application to strike out the claim because the claimant had not complied with an order dated 21 June 2018 requiring information relevant to disability status and the substance of the claim. The respondent submitted that the claimant had not engaged with the Tribunal process, that the claim was not in a triable state, and that the delay and non-compliance justified strike out.

The claimant accepted that she had not complied with the order but relied on medical and personal circumstances, including pregnancy-related illness, the birth of her child by emergency caesarean section, and ongoing mental health support connected with bipolar disorder and risk of post-partum psychosis. The Tribunal accepted that the claimant was in default and that the default was serious, but was not persuaded that she had deliberately defied the order.

The Tribunal found that the claimant's default had been caused in large part by her personal and health circumstances and that it had not been shown that a fair trial was no longer possible or that clear prejudice had been caused to the respondent. The strike out application was refused, but the order was reissued as an Unless Order requiring compliance by 11 January 2019, failing which the claim would be dismissed automatically.