Thin v No appearance Scottish Water — 2022

The claimant presented a single complaint of unfair dismissal. A preliminary hearing on the respondent’s application for strike out was listed for 23 September 2022. The tribunal recorded that the claimant had repeatedly failed to provide a substantive response to outstanding information, a statement of facts and list of issues, and had not supplied documents for the joint bundle or confirmed that none would be included.

The tribunal also found repeated non-compliance with orders requiring medical evidence after the claimant sought a postponement of the final hearing on the basis of a serious car accident. Despite several reminders and extensions of time, no valid medical certificate was produced. The tribunal noted that later material relied on by the claimant included an unsigned GP letter on unheaded paper and photographs of lateral flow tests, one of which the tribunal concluded had been downloaded from the internet, and the claimant did not satisfactorily explain these matters.

Applying Rule 37(1) and the authorities cited in the reasons, the tribunal concluded that the claimant’s conduct was unreasonable and scandalous, that the claim was not being actively pursued, and that there had been intentional and disrespectful default rather than oversight. It also found that a fair hearing was no longer possible and that a less punitive response was not appropriate. The claim was therefore struck out in its entirety.