Reconsideration Hearing at ET (via skype)

[Ediepeedie]

Hi there,

I have a reconsideration hearing soon and wondered whether you could advise me on the following points:

1. I need to refer to specific points in the Respondents Witness Statements, will the ET have sight of these from the original hearing and if not, must I submit a request for the statements to be enclosed in the bundle?

2. I also have a few points to refer to from the original bundle (basically, it contradicts the judgement), again, can I do this without requesting the original bundle be accessible. I have watched quite a few court of appeal cases (civil) and note they have the original bundles etc - grateful for your guidance on this please?

3. I have read umpteen books and googled reconsideration hearings but there doesn't seem to be any in-depth detail on what the hearing itself requires...for example, do I need to draft a closing argument (as per the original hearing) , if I have set out a number of points for the panel to refer too?

4. What type of approach is required when you want to inform the judge, her finding of fact is perverse when there is no evidence for it but there is plenty if he reverted to the bundle which states otherwise.

5. Am I allowed to say, for example...the tribunal is wrong on Pt. xxxxx because....? I appreciate there is a certain approach and am trying to identify the best way to address the judge but at the same, my hearing is prove the outcome is wrong and refer to the evidence.

6. Finally, and more importantly, I cited s15 and the judge found the comments / actions of the respondent were because they cared about me (his words) however, he failed to acknowledge that by offering me a demotion (out of the blue), for a role which* was less paced, very little pressure and desk based - all* because he found out I had Bi-polar from my medical records was ok. in essence, my version cites s15 but if the judge prefers the respondent version then it should be s13 - have you experienced anything like this before?

I have spent hours and hours learning the law and have* a number of case to refer to - for example, Ring in ECJ, Coffey (perceived) and a few others.

As always, appreciate your feedback.

Thanks :-)
*

[ULA]

Hi firstly please to just say that for those of us trying to respond to your questions it would be much easier if you kept everything in the same thread since you have two other recent employment threads which are relevant. Otherwise we have to hop between multiple threads to review and ensure consistency of advice.*

*In answer to your questions:

*1. You need to check with the Tribunal that the judge will have a copy of the original hearing bundle available for the reconsideration hearing. If not you will have to ask the process for ensuring it is made available.

*2. As per 1 above

3. The reconsideration hearing will need to be based on the factual reasons as to why it is in the interests of justice to reconsider the tribunal's decision. Therefore you need to ensure you stick to the specific facts that support this. As to a closing statement i am not sure on this but to be prepared i would suggest that you do have a brief statement that can be made at the conclusion, if requested to do so.

4 & 5. You need to have strong grounds to be able to change the decision and to show that, for example, new evidence has become available whose existence could not reasonably have been known or foreseen at the time of the hearing which would have an important influence on the outcome; that the employment tribunal made a mathematical error in calculating compensation; or that the decision was made on the incorrect point of law.

In your case from reviewing your previous threads, you have new evidence that came to light after the hearing. This is certainly something that you need to present to the judge particularly if it is strong enough to question the decision that was made. The reasons for this coming to light after the hearing and the importance of it on the decision that was made, need to be clearly set out.

I would not suggest you say the tribunal is wrong but use phrases such as “the tribunal may not have considered the fact that …..” "given that new evidence was not available to the tribunal …."

6. Without understanding the details of your claim which have not been provided in this or previous threads it is not something I can provide any useful comment on.

Hope this information helps in your preparations.
*

[Ediepeedie]

Thank you so much ULA, I do apologise for the error. I will be sure to add any responses to the existing thread moving forward. Your response is most certainly helpful and I will provide an update on the outcome in due course.*

[Ediepeedie]

Good Morning,

I have received the outcome of my reconsideration hearing which was essentially revoked. The ET has taken the polar opposite to their original decision and found that I wasn't treated unfairly due to my disability.

The original allegation was: "Manager ignored email regarding my concerns around being treated unfairly".

In the original judgement, it did not provide a definitive answer I. E. They did not respond or they did respond. For reference the manager claims he came to see me at my desk.

This did not happen and I provided 2 emails to the ET from two separate emails sent to separate people (one was on the morning of the said event) to say that I hadn't heard anything (I stated the name of the manager in the email too).

Thier defence was, they came to see me and told one of thier other managers that they did... So in theory, hearsay has been accepted into the hearing.

The judgement now states that I held a false belief I was being treated unfairly and a link has been discussed with the reason and my disability and they can't find one so there is no case.

The summary of events are as follows: A Christmas party was being held during working hours and because of this everyone in the department was issued with a meeting request namely "team building". I was advised they do this to cover the event while out drinking.

A few weeks prior to the event, my husband secured a new job which meant I could no longer attend the event (my disability prevents me from using public transport etc). I declined the event and asked if I was to work as normal while the others were out. I was told... Yes..... Just that, no other wording given.

I emailed the manager above my manager saying I felt disadvantaged that I had to log on as normal while others were excused. I also contacted the equality team who contacted the manager I emailed to say fair treatment was to be discharged to all.

I did not hear from this manager in response to my email or the prompt from the equality team.

The ET state I had a false but genuine belief I was being treated unfairly and there is no casual link to say the complaint was raised as a result, effect or outcome of the disability.

Is my view wrong in which, if I didn't have the disability in the first place then I would have attended the party and the email would not have been sent? The email went unaddressed and the ET cannot provide a definitive answer yet again as to whether they came to see me or they didn't.

The ET would still be equavicol as to whether there had been a meeting or not.

So the allegation has not been answered (which I've addressed at the start of this message) I. E. Did not come to see me. The ET has focused on the fact my email of unfair treatment was eronous and not rendered under S15. Yet my allegation is about the email being ignored.

For reference this is currently with the EAT on the basis the ET did not provide an outcome on whether they came to see me or not. Am I correct in thinking, I am entitled to an answer / outcome on this rather than skimming past it and looking at the email in isolation and not the fact it went unanswered.

Finally, the manager told another manager they came to see me - is this classed as hearsay? My emails, one of which was to my best friend saying I hadn't heard and covered a lot more of the situation seem not be of any importance yet they are date stamped and in my view a lot stronger than a forever changing version of events the other side has given.

Grateful for any advice you can provide.

Thank you
Edie

[ULA]

Hi, thank you for the update. It is very difficult for me to provide any advice given that i do not have full facts of the case and the detailed decision of both the ET outcome and that of the Reconsideration hearing.

I note from one of your earlier threads that you were represented by a solicitor who will have the full facts and i suggest that you speak directly with them about this outcome. I presume that a notice of appeal has already been submitted to the EAT and this is based on the identification of flaws in the legal reasoning of the original decision since the EAT will not normally re-examine issues of fact.*