Jagdeo v Not present Trip Air Ticketing (UK) Ltd — 2022

At a hearing in chambers on 31 March 2022, Employment Judge Sutherland considered the Respondent's application to strike out the Claimant's constructive unfair dismissal and race discrimination claims under Rule 37(1)(b), (c), (d) and (e). The parties did not attend. The judgment records that the Claimant had failed to comply with orders requiring further specification and, after October 2021, had not participated in the proceedings or provided the requested medical evidence explaining his absence.

The Tribunal accepted that there had been non-compliance and delay, but it was not satisfied that strike out was the appropriate and proportionate response at that stage. The Judge considered whether the Claimant had been unfit to participate because of a long-term health condition, and concluded that an unless order requiring medical evidence from a GP or hospital doctor was the more proportionate step. On the fair-hearing ground, the Tribunal said the claim had been raised just over a year earlier and that, without further information about the reason for the delay or any likely future delay, it could not yet say that a fair hearing was no longer possible.

The application for strike out was therefore refused. The Tribunal ordered the Claimant to provide within 14 days a copy of correspondence asking for a written medical opinion on whether he had been unfit to take part in tribunal proceedings since October 2021 and, if so, when he was expected to be fit. The judgment states that if he failed to comply, the claim would be dismissed without further procedure; if he complied, the Tribunal would then consider the medical evidence and any renewed strike out application if necessary.