Tribunal decision query

[Sky90]

I would like to know if anyone has an idea of when I’ll hear about the outcome of my case. It was over in mid April and it’s really effecting my health not knowing.

After almost 2 years of back and forth with my employer, which included grievances that were mismanaged, and medicals to prove disability (one of which was so biased to my employer that the gmc are investigating the doctors conduct), I finally had my tribunal. My tribunal lasted 5 days and in the last day the judge said he would have an answer but wouldn’t have time to go into the reasons for the answer, so said I would receive the answer in writing in 4-6 weeks. It’s now been 10 weeks and the stress is destroying my health, my relationships and me as a person.

The witnesses my employer put forward we’re unable to answer questions as they claimed lack of knowledge (how a woman who had worked in HR for the same company for 25 years didn’t know the HR process is beyond me). They seemed to avoid using witnesses that could have made them look bad. The witness statements from the other side were not very well written and there was no evidence to support what they said. In my witness statement I made sure that everything I had proof to support everything in there.

The tribunal pack contained evidence of their knowledge of my disability, not providing adjustments, bullying, abuse of power (my grievance was completely incorrect and my workplace tried to cover up this by trying to silence me and informing others to not communicate with me).

I’m sorry for rambling. I just want to know how much longer I have to keep trying to hold myself together for.

Thank you for any advice you can offer.

[Chilly]

I totally get your frustration I had to wait 9 months for a full written response to my case !
Just incase you haven't already have you tried searching your case on the government website?

Contact the court and ask for an update .

I know How consuming the whole process is .....easier said than done I know but try and take a step back from it .

I genuinely wish you well.

[Sky90]

At the end of my tribunal they put a provisional date in the diary for a remedy hearing. It’s due to take place in 4 weeks, but I’ve still not had the outcome of my tribunal. Can someone please let me know what the process is? If I am successful then surely I’d need time to prepare for a remedy hearing and I don’t think less than 4 weeks is enough. I keep being told by the court that it’s taking longer than normal, but the judge told me 4-6 weeks, and others who have had cases that were in court for longer have had their answers, and I haven't. The judge has been emailed, but not responded. Am I able to complaint about this?

Thank you for any advice you can offer.

[ULA]

I have sympathy with your situation, however I know that the Tribunal system is still severely backlogged. Judgements are written up by the Judge that conducts the hearing and will be down to their time schedules.

Have you received written confirmation from the Tribunal of the date for the remedy hearing, you should receive this if the provisional date set at the hearing is to go ahead.

I would suggest containing the Tribunal (by phone which may take serveral attempts) to find out whether they know if the provisional date set is still going ahead given that you have not received the Judgement.

[Sky90]

Thank you for all of your advice regarding this. I got my outcome. The main issues I had were partially upheld. Now I have to prepare for a remedy hearing. I’m not sure if you’re able to advise, but I have another query arising from my case.

Due to how my employer behaved and due to them dragging out the process, I was put under a lot of stress that impacted on my health and required me needing surgery and needing to pay for therapy. The other side want me to have medicals to prove detriment. I do not have any issue with another medical, but I do take issue with using one of the previous experts.

One expert broke gmc guidance on acting as a expert witness, and the gmc are currently investigating my complaint. The gmc gets thousands of complaints a year and only investigate the most serious (on average 14%). I feel there would be a conflict of interest in him acting as a medical expert for my case.

Can you please let me know if you are aware if I would be able to refuse using him? He is currently suspended from the gmc register, but I can’t find anything that says he can’t be an expert witness due to not being on the register.

Thank you I’m advance for any advice you can offer.

[ULA]

Are the other side insisiting you go to one they are requesting.

I would have thought you could get your own medical report from an expert who appears on the General Medical Council’s Specialist Register.

[Sky90]

Thank you for all of your advice. The GMC confirmed that the doctor was not allowed to see me or any other patients. My medical for my crohns will now be conducted by another crohns expert.

If you are ever told you need a medical, there are rules that the medical professional has to follow. These rules can be found on the GMC website here: https://www.gmc-uk.org/ethical-guida...al-proceedings


If you feel like the report your medically professional provides breaks any of the guidance above, then please complain to the GMC.

I think it is also worth checking that the professional is on the GMC register, and you can check that they are here: https://www.gmc-uk.org/registration-...dical-register

[ULA]

Thank you for the update and links.

Pleased to hear that sense has prevailed and the medical report will be conducted by another expert who is on the GMC list.

[Sky90]

Sorry, me again with another query about the same tribunal.

I have now had further medicals. The first two before my tribunal were to prove disability. The two that have just taken place are to prove that the discrimination caused me injury/further ill health. The medicals state that the behaviour of my employer did cause my health to suffer.

My query is about the impact statement that I need to do now. Is there a limit to how long it should be? Do I have to have exact dates?

This situation has impacted me greatly, and due to the nature of my illness, I am a little worried about putting certain information in. For example, due to complications with one illness (which is effected by stress), my physical relationship with my partner was non existent and due to that complication I now have a fear of sex. I am seeing a therapist to try to combat this, but the lack of intimacy and anxiety around it is still causing me problems well over a year since it started. Is this something that is ok to go in my impact statement? Or is it tmi?

With my witness statement it was all information that I could prove with documents. With the issues I have now, it is more about me saying this is how it impacted on me and I do not have proof. I have invites to events that I could not attend, I have emails to medical professionals cancelling appointments due to not being able to leave home.

Should I ask my Dad, sister and boyfriend to write statements about how the situation changed me, impacted me?

I think I am worried about being vulnerable and admitting just how bad things have been for me, just to have the respondent try to belittle my health issues and make me out to be a hypochondriac.

[ULA]

Hi @sky90.

One of the part of definitions of disability requires the disabled person to show that their disability has a ‘substantial adverse effect’ on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

An impact statement is therefore a way of demonstrating (or proving) the impact of your disability by setting out in your own statement how your disability affects your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
Each person’s impact statement will depend on their own personal circumstances however as a suggestion why not try and cover the following:

What is the impairment?
You should start by setting out what your impairment/s is/are, i.e. you might have a condition that has a medical name or diagnosis. It is also important to talk about what the actual impairments or symptoms arising from the condition are. For example - reduced mobility, pain, fatigue, low mood, poor concentration, increased susceptibility to infections, difficulty reading social situations.

When was your diagnosis?
When did you first know that you had this condition- is there a particular date or period in your life? You should also confirm when you first sought medical treatment for the condition with your GP and what steps they took to investigate and treat your condition, such as prescribing medication and referring you to a consultant for a formal diagnosis.

What effect does it have?
You should set out the effect your disability has on your day-to-day life. Focus on day-to-day activities rather than work. There may be some cross over. How does it effect your ability to go about and organise and manage your life? For example, it may create limitations to what you can do, or how you do certain tasks or how long it takes you to do things or how often?

What effect has it had in the past?
It is helpful to set out the history of your condition – what effect it has had in the past and then through to the present. It is particularly important to cover the period during which you felt that you were being discriminated against.

Include details about treatment and medication
It can be helpful to talk about what difference treatment makes to how you can go about your day-to-day life and also cover how things would be if you did not have the treatment.

Disability impact statements are often subject to a word limit that is set in the Case Management Order but if not then typically it should run for 1 – 2 pages of A4 paper but may be longer if you have more than one disability. Like your witness statement, you should use short, numbered paragraphs to break up the information and make it easier to read.

Hope this helps

[Sky90]

Thank you for the advice. It has helped me write my draft.

I now have a new question about medicals. I had medicals and they were supportive of my claim. The respondent has now asked one expert to clarify some things. However, it is not a clarification they are seeking. They are now asking new questions. When we sent instructions to the experts (it was a joint instruction), both parties agreed to the questions. These new questions have not been agreed by myself. These new questions would require the expert to meet with me again in order to answer them properly.

When I had my previous medical and the expert went beyond their expertise and included things that were not relevant, I asked that the information he removed or amended and the request was denied by the expert due to the respondent denying the request.

Can I deny the respondents request for the new questions to be answered? I have already paid for this medical, and gone through the humiliating process of it, I do not want to keep having things dragged out.

Thank you for any advice you can offer with this.

[Sky90]

I think I may have found the answer to my question.

The tribunal instructions state:

parties have permission to ask questions arising from the report due to 35.5 of the Civil Procedure Rules.

However, 35.6 c of the Civil Procedure Rules states that it must be for the purpose only of clarification of the report
- unless in any case
(i) the court gives permission, or
(ii) the other party agrees.

The court has not given permission and I do not agree. I think my previous employer is in breach of the rules of the tribunal. I think my previous employer is now trying to change the narrative to suit them for damage limitation.

[Sky90]

This is in addition to post number 12. The respondent has legal representation. They contacted the expert with the following:

Thank you for providing us with your addendum report with reference to (me) and the conditions of IBD, under the below chain. On review of the addendum report we would like to clarify two additional points on behalf of the Respondent.

Please could you clarify, in your expert opinion:

• given the severity of (me) existing conditions of IBD what were (me) symptoms (so far as you are able to comment) prior to any exacerbation (as identified in your addendum report); and
• in light of this, how and/or to what extent were (me) existing symptoms in respect of IBD exacerbated?

Should you require any clarification in respect of the above additional questions, please let us know.

The respondent is breaking the rules of the tribunal and the Civil Procedure Rules, is there anything I can do? Anywhere I can complain about their conduct? Also, it feels wrong that they are trying to phrase these new questions as clarification, it feels dishonest. Is there anyway they can be held accountable for this underhand behaviour?

[ULA]

You say in your post #11 you "have already paid for this medical, was this because you requested the medical from this expert to support that you are disabled as defined by the Equality Act?

When was this medical carried out? Again wondering why if they believed the details were not clear at the time of the report they did not address this then.

Need to consider your post #13 further so will get back to you,

[Sky90]

I had 2 medicals prior to my tribunal to confirm disability, as my employer refused to accept I was disabled despite overwhelming evidence. The 2 medicals I just had were to establish whether or not my employers treatment caused my health to deteriorate. The medicals confirmed it did effect my health. The respondent is now trying to establish how much of a deterioration there has been, but the judge hasn’t asked for further medicals for this, I have not agreed to further medicals, and looking over my tribunal pack, I provided information about how my health was prior to the discrimination and talk about how my health was at the time.