Employment tribunal help please

[Bumble9665]

Hello

this is my first post on the website so please be kind.
My partner was dismissed and we believe he has a good case for gross misconduct. (I know i am sure everyone says that but this is the most pathetic thing i have ever heard and many false accusations have been made towards my partnee which have all been proven as lies) anyway he has appkied online for to start the process and he received a letter last month saying that he has a tribunal date for the latter part of the year and what we need to provide and what his old work need to provide. Now tonight I am going theough the details to make a start on what he needs (i am the super organized out of the 2 if us) ans it says his old work should have sent an et3 form back to the tribunal service (i think its called) should my partner receive a copy if it outlines their case or is there a way for him to find out if they did respond and maybe what they said?*
sorry for the many questions i just want to make sure he has all the information he can get ready to fight this to the best if his abilities.

Many thanks in advance bumble*

[WylnTholia]

Yes, if they have responded with the ET3 form, he, or his representative should receive a copy of what the respondants sent to the court. They will basically be saying, on the ET3, why they dont agree with the claims he has made.

I don't know how he has got a trubunal date through so quickly though - my claim was lodged this time last year, and the ET3 form was submitted around 2 months later - and I have just heard this week, about a date for a preliminary hearing!

[Bumble9665]

Thank you for that information hopefully he would receive something this week (their deadline date was 6th February) if they have sent the form

The date for the tribunal isnt until November but it came through with the paperwork as neither of us have been thorough this we assumed it was normal but maybe not?

Would their response to early conciliation go towards the et3 or not as if its unusual for him to have a date yet maybe they dont need or want to have a response maybe what they said in early conciliation is enough (we do have evidence that the statements were lies and also make false accusations towards my partner)

Many thanks*

[ULA]

Sorry need to take you back a stage, have you been through a process of early conciliation and I presume that if this is now going to Tribunal then the process was unsuccessful.*

Once you completed your ET1 that would have been sent to the your partner's ex-employer and then they would have been asked to complete and ET3 which is the basis of their defence. They have 28 days in which to respond and you will get sent a copy of this by the Tribunal.

It sounds like your partner was dismissed for gross misconduct and I assume the claim is for unfair dismissal? *

Please ask as many questions as you need to as you go through this process we can try and guide you through it. Is your partner thinking of instructing a solicitor or between you are you trying to do as much as possible by yourselves?

[Bumble9665]

Hello ULA
yes my partner was dismissed for gross misconduct and he has already been through ACAS and was unsuccessful however he has also put forward with the unfair dismissal and constructive dismissal and 3 people have now been made redundant (its a long story) but these 3 did the same as what my partner did (in some cases very serious) and the punishment was unfair to my partner very severe...2 separate acas representives have commented on how ridiculous it is esp as hes never been in trouble (the person who made the complaint made 2 previous against my partner saying he didnt complete his work...both times we were on holiday and he was not even there as its was an opposite team so proved as lies)
we are hoping to do as much as we can ourselves but there is a legal charity near us that may help i plan on contacting them this week.*
its mainly to clear my partners name as he hasnt done the lies what they have said. I will call the tribunal service as acas advised this morning as we haven't received any et3 forms to confirm if theh even sent it....will everything still proceed the same if they don't reply?

[ULA]

Couple of things may have happened.

Firstly the Tribunal service is quite busy as the moment and dependent on your local Tribunal there may be some delays in processing paperwork. The ET3 will have gone out with a copy of your ET1 and it depends how soon that was sent out after the Tribunal received it from you for the 28 days to start. It then depends, if the ET3 has been received back by the Tribunal how quickly they get a copy out to you.

It may be that the employer has requested and extension of time which will be down to the Tribunal to consider and either agree to or not. Although you should have been made aware of this.

If there has been neither an extension of time request or the ET3 completed in time then the Tribunal may make a judgement on the case known as a default judgement.*

[D_Pappa]

To echo what ULA has said, after your partner submitted the ET1 form, the tribunal served a copy of this on his former employer (the "respondent").

Once issued by the tribunal, the respondent has 28 days to submit their summary side of the story - their defence to his claim - on an ET3 form. It is very similar to the ET1 your partner completed, just aimed at employers, not employees.*

You will receive a copy of any documents the tribunal receives or is involved with. This means you will get sent a copy of the ET3 by the tribunal, but they are a busy service. I would suggest calling your local employment tribunal office who are overlooking this case and seeing if they have any information, if they are up to date, etc. Or you can just wait a little longer.

Either way, keep on top of this. If the respondent didn't submit their defence (or request for an extension) within time, this can lead to a judgement in default; this is simply the tribunal ruling in your partner's favour, in light of a defence not being mounted by the respondent.*

[Bumble9665]

Hello

I have called the tribunal service and they received the et3 at the end of Jan and have now forwarded it on to us. The company are using a big solicitor and that scares us as we wanted to do it ourselves but feel slightly intimidated by them but he is in the right (we feel) anyway the et3 was very interesting reading they had stuff in there that wasnt in his dismissal letter or why he was dismissed,the start dates were wrong by 6months not sure if this matters but just shows how wrong all their information is.

Anyway we now need to compile a case to send back but we have no idea where to start would it be best just making notes counter acting what that have said along with evidence to support this (many lies about what my partner did and we have evidence to support this)

Just feeling overwhelmed by the lies they have made about my partner.

[Bumble9665]

We also need to prove his financial losses so far would bank statements or payslips from his temp work be sufficient or maybe a print off fron his government portal with the earnings he has made be better?

[ULA]

So this will potentially be a long process so the best thing to do is take it in stages and there is experience on this forum of taking people through a Tribunal process so we are here to help.

The next thing that will happen is that a judge will carry out an initial consideration of the documents, effectively your ET1 and the ET3 response to confirm whether there are arguable complaints and defences, which are appropriate for the tribunal to consider. In order to do so, the judge may request further information from either of you.

If the judge forms the view that all or any parts of the claim or response are not appropriate for the tribunal to consider, they will inform the parties of that view and the reasons for it. The party who is affected will then be given the opportunity to persuade the judge otherwise before the claim or response (or part of the claim or response) is dismissed.

If the judge forms the view that there are arguable claims and defences, which are appropriate for the tribunal to consider, they will go on to make a case management order. The judge will decide whether there needs to be a preliminary hearing, in advance of the main hearing, to manage your case or whether case management directions can be sent to the parties in writing. If the judge takes the latter view then these case management orders and the timescales will need to be met by both parties.

There are some general Tribunal etiquette rules to follow but we can guide you through those as you progress through this process.

In terms of what you can be doing at the moment it is to start collating all the relevant documents that you have to support your partner's claim ultimately these will be part of a "bundle" which you will exchange with the Respondent's solicitor. What will also need to do is to start work on what is called a Schedule of Loss which details the financial claim that your partner is making. Again this is best to be in the prescribed format for which I have a template, however it would be very helpful for me to know the details provided in the ET1 at section 8 which was about the type of claim being made.

Any questions you have then please just ask.

[Bumble9665]

Hello

Thank you so much for the information, tomorrow i am printing all the statements from colleagues and witnesses disregarding the statements made by the company....honestly they ahve one vivid imagination!!

The step due this week is to determine the remedy my partner is asking the tribunal for...does that mean the compensation? Would just a written statement be enough along with the statement of losses,i plan on printing his tax paid year to date as when he was working on the agency he didnt have payslips....that he can find anyway!!
he has been suffering from anxiety a d depression for about 7 years would a letter from the dr help maybe as he has recently gone back on medication to help with this or is that irrelevant?
sorry for all the questions i do appreciate your time to answer

[ULA]

So when the ET1 was completed at section 9 you would have needed to give an indication of what remedy your partner was looking for, based on financial or job back with employer but with compensation.

If it was purely financial then what has to be completed is a Schedule of Loss, I do have a guideline document which is geared towards an unfair dismissal claim but it might help.

Was his health a factor in his dismissal? If not then I am not sure what the relevance would be of having a GP's letter.

[Bumble9665]

Thank you ULA i have got a template from acas website i will tailor it to my partners needs ideally he would love his job back but if not i will send a copy of the costs he requests along with if he is not able to get his job back but do i need to send in any furher information like the contrary statements defending him?*
We don't want to send in not enough information that is needed at this stage and completely disregard hos claim

[ULA]

I am not sure what the ACAS template looks like but I am sure it is format required by the Tribunal and should not just be a copy of payslips, etc.

At the moment have you just been asked to provide the remedy your partner is looking for? Have you been provided with a Case Management Order (CMO)?

[Bumble9665]

Hello
My partner has been asked to provide a remedy we have no idea how to format this. Would it just be a letter or is there a standard format?
yes the schedule of loss isnt just payslips it is a clear breakdown of costs,losses everything financial*