ET - Disclosure

[dirtysocks]

Hi everyone, really hoping to get some advice please.

Currently going through the process of taking my employer to tribunal. I am representing myself.

The court sent a list of orders and we have just reached the disclosure date to provide each other with all relevant documents.

Thing is, they have not disclosed any correspondence from one of the Managers who was heavily involved, in addition there are calls that took place that I know are recorded, and I would like to rely on in my witness statement, these have not been disclosed either.

The respondents rep is pushing to get the bundle finalised a week before it is due.

I want to get the other documents from the respondent, do I go to the Court and request a disclosure order?

Really appreciate any help on this matter, I am a little fish in a huge corporate pond and feel a little bit like I am drowning.

Thank you.

[ULA]

The Employment Tribunal (ET) process can seem very overwhelming, particularly if you represent yourself and you are up againat an employer who is probably represented. At LB we can assist you through that process.

Have you asked the respondent to disclose the documents already? If so what was their reasons for ot doing so?

[dirtysocks]

Thank you so much for responding.

The Court sent a list of Orders to me and the Respondent setting out several dates for things to be done.

One of the dates was for disclosure so I waited, assuming they would provide everything (like I did) but they haven’t.

We now have two weeks to negotiate the bundle, however I would like the additional documents. When I have looked on Citizens Advice it says to write to the Courts and ask for an order, but wasn’t too sure as it was vague.

I didn’t think I would need to write to the respondent because the set of Court Orders set us both a date to disclose, which is now passed.

Any advice would really help, thank you.

[ULA]

The ET's view is that once the Orders are issued then the parties will liaise between themselves to work towards the agreed dates. One thing to say is do not assume, just because you believe documents are important to the case, the respondent may not agree. In advance of the agreed date there should have been an exchange of an Index of documents that each party wanted to include in the bundle. Your Index should have included those documents with a request for the respondent to provide, if you did not have them in your possession.

It seems this process may or may not have happened in your case.

The first approach should be to request the respondent to provide them and if they are unwilling to do so, then you would have to make an application to the ET for disclosure.

I would suggest that you email the respondent with the documents that you want to include i.e. referring to them in your witness statement and why, give them a few days to respond and say that if you do not hear from them to confirm they will include the documents, then you will be making an application to the ET for disclosure.

Can you just let me know when your hearing is set for?

[dirtysocks]

Thank you again for responding.

The Court Orders just said to disclose all relevant documents to each other by said date, no mention of index.

The next date is for the bundle to be sent to the Courts, the respondent has to put that together along with index etc and send to the Court. Hearing is August.

I didn’t send an index as it didn’t mention for me to do so in the Orders, but provided all the documents in my possession as per the Court Orders, I thought they would do the same.

They have provided very little. I would like specifically a couple of emails I know exist that would help my claim and I would like to rely on the calls.

The respondent is now pushing to get the bundle off quicker than needed, cutting the time by at least a week.

How long would I give them to provide the documents before I go to the Court, I am worried that the final bundle will be sent by then

Thanks again

[ULA]

If you send them the email tomorrow I would give them to close of business Tues. However in the meantime I suggest you prepare the application to the ET for disclosure to be with the ET on Wed morning.

There may also be the ability for you to provide a supplemental bundle but that relies on either the respondent disclosing them as requested or the ET Ordering disclosure?

[dirtysocks]

Thank you so much, you’ve really helped. I will send the request in the morning. Thank you again

[ULA]

Glad to hear this has been helpful.

If you do have any further questions then please come back to this same thread.

[dirtysocks]

Hi again,

I have another question if anybody can help please.

Once I had put my ET1 claim in I received Orders from the Court for me and the respondent.

17 March - send my loss of earnings.

30 March – claimant and respondent to send each other copies of all documents they have relevant to claim.

14 April – Claimant and Respondent to agree which docs are to be used in the hearing. The respondent must prepare a file of these docs and send a hard copy to Claimant. File must have index and page numbers etc.

I sent all my docs over on 30^th March, all of which I referred to in my ET1 and of which I will be referring to in my witness statement and hearing. I did not send an index as the order did not say to do so.

The respondent has said that it is now their job to create a bundle and index it and choose what is relevant and once they are done they will send it to me for any suggested amendments or comments, they also said they want to complete it 4 days earlier than the date the Orders gave as they will not be available after that point.

They were supposed to send me the bundle two days ago but haven’t, I am concerned that once they send it to me I won’t have time to look at it or time for any changes to be made. I want my documents included in the bundle.

Where do I stand and what can I do, I would be grateful for any help as I am representing myself.

Also, if anyone knows of anywhere I can read up on the kind of orders you can request from the ET I would be very grateful, I have found it hard to find information online.

[ULA]

You should email the respondent first thing tomorrow and ask them where your copy of the draft bundle is for you to review.

There are a varity of applications you can make to the ET for Orders to be made. What specifically are you thinking you may need to apply to the ET for?

[dirtysocks]

Thanks again for being so helpful.

I sent them an email yesterday asking when I should expect the bundle as I had not received it as expected, however, they did not respond.

I will email them again in the morning.

They have already tried to be a bit tricky with some of the things that they have done so I just wanted to protect myself, find out a little bit more about orders, what they are for, when they can be used, just try and learn really.

Thank you again, I really do appreciate the help.

[dirtysocks]

Hi again,

So, I wrote to the respondent requesting disclosure of calls and emails and stated that if I did not receive them by said date I would go to the ET to request an order.

I believe these call recordings to exist based on another document that the respondent has provided which states that calls on Teams are recorded and available.

They have now come back and said that no recording was made for each of the calls requested.

Can I now write to the ET to ask for an order? Or do I have to take their word that no recordings were made.

These calls are very important to my case and I would like it on file with the ET that I have requested them.

As always thank you so much.

[ULA]

If you were to make an application to the Tribunal for disclosure, then you would have to be very clear and have evidence to support that you believe the recordings and emails are in existence.

[dirtysocks]

Hi,

Thank you, I have a verbal recording of the respondent stating that calls are recorded in Teams as well as a statement within the disclosure stating that calls on Teams are recorded and available to be listened back to, both of these are in the Disclosure bundle, hopefully that is enough and I can explain that within my application. At least if I can have it on record that I requested them it would help.

Thanks