Employment Tribunal advice

[Snyper86]

Dear Team


I have an Employment Tribunal case against my employers for several points

1. Multiple counts of Unlawful deductions to my wages

2. Multiple counts of discrimination under Age, disability, race and sex

3. Multiple counts of victimisation, bullying and harassment following my accusation of discrimination


My Notice of Claim was issued on 21st September 2021, my employer's claim they only found the post on February 6th this year and then instructed their lawyers to start proceedings on the same day. They are claiming that they ‘misplaced’ the letter from the ET due to Covid.


In their grounds of resistance document, the respondent is denying all claims against them, which I would expect. They are not likely to hold their hand up and say “Oops, ok, we did that”


These are my questions:

1. Are the points they put in their ‘Grounds of Resistance’ document counted as statements of facts?
   Because they are denying things but also presenting a limited version of what actually happened, e.g. saying they refunded unlawful deductions while omitting it took them 3yrs to do so despite multiple requests and full grievance procedure steps taken on my part (which they did not follow).
2. In one of the points in the grounds of resistance doc, they are basing their defence on a forged document which I have conclusive evidence is forged. Would this be classed as a false statement under "False unsworn statement under Evidence (Proceedings in Other Jurisdictions) Act 1975." (located here https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga...2/6/section/1A) as a form of perjury in its own right?

1. Obviously, the response is massively out of time (over 100 days past the deadline)

Are there any legal precedents I can quote in my response as to why an extension of time for a response should NOT be granted?


Obviously, I shouldn't be naming my employers here, but my employers are large enough to have Capsticks as one of their go-to firms, so have plenty of resources to ensure things are done right.


Any help here would be gratefully appreciated.

[Snyper86]

Dear Team


Can legal cases from commonwealth nations be used as precedents in a UK employment tribunal?


Specifically, those from Canada?


And, as I have your attention anyway, how would the courts feel about cases from OUTSIDE the commonwealth, such as the USA?


In my case, I am clearly being discriminated against by a group of women (I am male)

This is proving harder to prove as although the acts are there and they have clearly treated me less favourably, I am not a member of a traditionally discriminated minority group and I am trying to find cases to assist me as the UK does not seem to accept reverse discrimination as a thing.


I am using 2 hypothetical comparators of:


A, an employee without any regard to their protected characteristics; Payroll should treat this employee equally and fairly and not cause them detriment.


B, a person who is part of a minority group and falls into a different age, racial and sex group to me.


Any help is gratefully received


Thank you.

[ULA]

I believe this relates to the other thread you have created today. If so I will merge these threads as it is more helpful for those volunteers who are going to try and assist if they have all the facts.

[Samuel1234]

I’ve just finished my tribunal case, I wish I’d focused more on the breaches my Employer made, as it’s not a case of what evidence you have ( in my case wrongly accused of wrong doings) but it’s more about what your employer did when carrying out investigations ie following policies and procedures

[Snyper86]

ULA Thank you for taking the time. I separated these due to the subject matter hoping the specificity in each thread would make things easier as the two threads are about totally different queries. By all means, please do what you feel appropriate.

[Snyper86]

I’ve just finished my tribunal case, I wish I’d focused more on the breaches my Employer made, as it’s not a case of what evidence you have ( in my case wrongly accused of wrong doings) but it’s more about what your employer did when carrying out investigations ie following policies and procedures

Samuel1234 Thank you for your advice. I hope your case went well.

I followed the procedures prescribed under the company grievance procedures, attempting to resolve informally directly, informally via line manager, and then when these failed I raised a formal grievance, then applied to ACAS within the time limit.
My employers did not follow their own policies or procedures, refused to engage with ACAS Early conciliation, and when I raised my request to the tribunal, failed to respond within the 28 days required. From what I am focussing on my claims specifying what actions of my employer breached which policy/law with supporting evidence. However, as per my post above, I do not know enough about the law and my googling has not found anything specific regarding my queries above.

[ULA]

You say that your employer only found the copy of your ET1, notfying them of a claim on 6 Feb, however you already have a copy of their ET3 and Grounds of Resistance (GoR), I presume, given we are at the 13 Feb, this has been send directly from the solicitor for your employer, whilst they have also sent it onto the Tribunal.

In response to your questions:

1. The GoR will set out your employer's response to your claims and also make clear their version of events. The response may have also addressed why in their opinion the claims, or part of then, do not have reasonable prospects of success, or if it is outside of the tribunal's jurisdiction, or both if applicable.

2. Section 1A of Schedule 1 of the Evidence (Proceedings in Other Jurisdictions) Act 1975 was added into the Purjury Act 1911 but it only comes into effect if an order has been given in accordance with Sec2 Evidence (Proceedings in Other Jurisdictions) Act 1975, which is an order of the High Court, the Court of Session and the High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland. Therefore does not cover a GoR by any employer.

In regard to the case law, as far as I am aware, you need to rely on this needs to come from the precedents set out within the Employment Tribunal heirarchy or the ECJ.

[Snyper86]

You say that your employer only found the copy of your ET1, notfying them of a claim on 6 Feb, however you already have a copy of their ET3 and Grounds of Resistance (GoR), I presume, given we are at the 13 Feb, this has been send directly from the solicitor for your employer, whilst they have also sent it onto the Tribunal.

In response to your questions:

1. The GoR will set out your employer's response to your claims and also make clear their version of events. The response may have also addressed why in their opinion the claims, or part of then, do not have reasonable prospects of success, or if it is outside of the tribunal's jurisdiction, or both if applicable.

2. Section 1A of Schedule 1 of the Evidence (Proceedings in Other Jurisdictions) Act 1975 was added into the Purjury Act 1911 but it only comes into effect if an order has been given in accordance with Sec2 Evidence (Proceedings in Other Jurisdictions) Act 1975, which is an order of the High Court, the Court of Session and the High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland. Therefore does not cover a GoR by any employer.

In regard to the case law, as far as I am aware, you need to rely on this needs to come from the precedents set out within the Employment Tribunal heirarchy or the ECJ.

ULA Thank you for your response.

You are correct that their lawyer copied me in via email.

Incidentally, the 7 day response timeframe, does it run from the point of contact of the lawyers or from when the Tribunal get in touch with me regarding the extension application?

Here is an example of their response in the GoR:
DISCRIMINATION
1. It is denied that the Claimant was treated less favourably because of his age, disability, race or sex.
2. It is submitted that there is no such principle as “reverse discrimination”.
3. The Claimant will need to provide further and better particulars clarifying the detriments relied on how it is asserted that they occurred due to the Claimant’s age, race and sex and the comparators that he relied on for the purposes of his claim.
4. It is submitted that the Claimant has identified no facts from which an inference of discrimination could be drawn and such claims stand no reasonable prospect of success.

In my ET1 I give concise details of dates, incidents, a summary of what happened, people involved, specific claims from these including which law, policy,or code of practice I am relying on. I can provide better particulars as they request but in my opinion, they have not actually specified any specific points, their response seems very generic.

In regards to point 2, my query was due to the fact that being a white British male of below middle age, it is difficult to find case law to quote. As an example, were I a male of non-white origin or were I female, the acts I have been subjected to would be covered under countless successful case laws.

[Snyper86]

Can someone please explain what this rule in the Employment Tribunal rules actually means?

"Irregular service

91. A Tribunal may treat any document as delivered to a person, notwithstanding any non-compliance with rules 86 to 88, if satisfied that the document in question, or its substance, has in fact come to the attention of that person."

I've added the link to the ET rules.

Rules 86-88 is how I understand the ET deliver documents.
My employer claimed to have misplaced the ET documents notifying them of my claim for 4 months. I am wondering if I can use this rule 91 in my objection to their application for extended time.

Many thanks for your time and help.

[ULA]

Response to Post #8

You can oppose the application for an extension by giving written reasons for doing so within seven days of receiving it, which need to be sent to the Respondent's solictior and the Tribunal. So you have 7 days from receipt of the email.

Having not seen your claim I cannot make much comment on the examples you have provided for the GoR, although they seem typical in terms of language and content in claims of discrimination.

You may feel that you have provided all the details in regard to the instances of discrimination, when, who was involved etc, in your ET1 however, one point they raise is about comparators. I appreciate this is an area you are unclear about but in order to show you have suffered discrimination, you need to compare your treatment with the treatment of someone else who does not have the same protected characteristic as you. If you cannot find a real person who is in the same or similar enough situation to you, because the situation you are in has never happened before, then you can use a hypothetical comparator.

I am just wondering (without the details of your claim but from what I can surmise) whether this case may be of interest - Metropolitan Police v Mr Denby?

Response to post #9

Rule 91 is effectively stating that the Tribunal will consider a document as being delivered even if the method of delivery has not complied with 86-89, if they have reason to believe that the document is know about by the person.

Is your employer claiming that a) the offices have been closed due to Covid and no-one has been checking post regularly b) it arrived but was as you state in your post #1 "misplaced" and therefore did not get to the correct person to deal with or something else?

The correspondence to your employer notifying them of a claim with a copy of your ET1 would have been sent by post in accordance with 86 (1) (a) i.e a recongised method of delivery. Unless you have been notified by the respondent's solicitor otherwise, I do not think your employer is dening they received it just that they have other reasons for not actioning it in the timescales required.

[Snyper86]

Thank you so much for clarifying as best you could, this is very helpful to me.

I sent my objection today.

The respondent is claiming the document was received and misplaced without giving any proof or description as to how or why it was misplaced, they are claiming it was generally due to Covid despite the fact that the office WAS staffed throughout the pandemic by key workers as they confirmed in their letter (albeit at a reduced capacity).

My employer had no choice but to continue providing services throughout the pandemic as per government guidelines due to the essential nature of the services provided in support of essential infrastructures. At the height of the pandemic, this was achieved by a mixture of home working and enforced socially distanced in-office work. As lockdown restrictions lifted, more workers were returned to the office to continue the work that could not be done remotely. At the time the tribunal notice arrived, the pandemic had been here nearly 2 years and this was after all lockdowns had been lifted.

[Snyper86]

Would anyone know of case precedent where a claimant was part-self represented and part represented by a friend or family member who was not a lawyer or had any legal training?

As in, could I have a friend or family member speak on my behalf in the tribunal, and how would I go about arranging this?

[ULA]

Response to post #11

Given what you have said about the office being manned and functioning then that should be part of your objection to the application to extend.

Response to post #12

I have helped, via this forum, on many claims where a spouse/partner/family member has assisted the claimant both in the preTribunal process and at any hearings.

[Snyper86]

ULA thank you for confirming both points. Very helpful.

[Snyper86]

Dear Team,

I have provided a "better" Pariculars of Claim as requested by the Respondent a few months ago. The Respondent responded late to the ET with a very generic "we deny this claim" Grounds of Resistance for each claim, literally copy and paste and no details. The ET allowed their response as they claimed the delay was due to Covid.

We have since received hearing dates, etc. but the Respondent has not provided an updated Grounds of Resistance. Do they have to provide one? Do I have to request it? Can I request one?

I would like to have one so that I know on what grounds they are rebutting my claims. So that I can prepare for it and this way I can select the relevant documents, witness statements, etc to include in the bundle as there are a lot of documents spanning several years.

The ET have set all the dates, hearing date, preliminary hearing and a list of dates to request and share information by and send documents to the Respondent who is making the bundle.

Thank you for your time, and responses it is greatly appreciated to help me through this.