Tribunal exchanging documents

[Anna1962]

Hi, well we have exchanged documents and just started looking through and 2 statements have been added which were taken after my husbands appeal meeting which both now grossly exaggerate every thing from previous statements used to dismiss me. Can they add these to the bundle.

[Anna1962]

Apologies should say him not me.

[ULA]

So for clarification to those of use advising are you the claimant or is your husband? If the latter I appreciate you may be supporting him which is fine we have many instances of this on the forum but through you, we need to address our advice to him.

If the respondent believes they are relevant to the case, then yes they would need to include them in the bundle. The way to address any of what is felt has been exaggerated would be via the witness statement.

[Anna1962]

Thank you, so will the fact that they only reinterviewed the 2 people who supported their case and not any of the people who supported my husbands version of events, weaken their case. I struggle to understand this process they dismissed my husband on the evidence used, then go back and add other evidence. Also my husband was put on a PIP leading up to this but had no previous performance meetings, just received a call went upstairs and was put on a PIP with no follow up meetings, he was also offered a severance package in this meeting. Can we ask for any meetings prior to PIP and follow up meetings to prove they don’t exist. Thank you in advance for your help.

[ULA]

Is your husband intending to have those people who "supported" him be witnesses at the hearing, if they were witness to the proceeding or actions that lead to your husband dismissal?

In respect of the request for documents relating to meetings prior to the PIP and following, as you say this did not take place so asking for them from the respondent is not going to produce them. This will need to be covered off in in husband's witness statement and his cross examination of any relevant witnesses the respondent may call.

[Anna1962]

Thank you for all your help my husband has one witness who is prepared to come to tribunal, I thought by asking for the for them it would then prove they didn’t exist we have asked for some other documents as well,how long should we wait, the bundle needs to be done by them no later than the 22/05/2024. Also another question at the beginning we used the wrong company name on Acas Conciliation and ET1 but this is not being contested as all part of the same group. When I emailed the court to advise I sent a copy of conciliation offer to the court along with dismissal letter to prove why the confusion, I now realise we should not have sent the conciliation as is without prejudice, will the court just remove it from the hearing. Sorry a bit long winded, but this is the first place that we have had any real help.

[ULA]

You could send in an email making the request and asking them to acknowledge and provide a timescale in which they will be provided. This may be of benefit if you ensure that email trail is added into the bundle.

I would say depending on when you asked for the other documents, leave it until Fri morning and then prepare an email to send mid-afternoon on Fri chasing for them to be sent to you by 1 May.

If you sent this as part of correspondence with the Tribunal then it will be have been placed on the file. Hopefully the Tribunal will ignore it and in any event it will not form part of the bundle which is what the panel will have available to them at the hearing.

Glad to hear that we are helping. We may not know all the answers but we do our best!

[Anna1962]

Thank you again do I also send to the tribunal the
request for documents. I also sent the conciliation to the respondent with my documents, so when they check,they will just not add to the bundle.
Thanks again

[Anna1962]

Do you think it would be worth notifying the respondent and tribunal about the conciliation document?

[ULA]

You only need to write to the Tribunal if the respondent does not provide the documents by my suggested date of 1 May. It may be worth putting in that email, that if they do not provide them, you will be making an application to the Tribunal for an Order for them to disclose.

I would not worry the Tribunal at this stage. If it gets brought up at the hearing by the panel your husband just needs to reference the fact he is a litigant in person. Regarding the respondent maybe add to the email you may have to send on Fri and say it was inadvertently put in your disclosure documents and as it Without Prejudice, can they ensure it is not included in the final bundle.

[Anna1962]

Good morning, I have taken your advice and emailed the respondent asking for the requested information by 01/05/2024. I have also asked them to removed the Acas email. I spoke to the court yesterday and they didn’t see overly concerned and I am probably over thinking. Do you think I need to do anything else.

[ULA]

Your husband needs to do nothing else on the ACAS email.

[Anna1962]

Thank you, just a quick question, the respondent does not seem to have legal representation yet. Only HR compliance manager is this normal at this stage? Also if they do not come back to me by the 01/05/2024 do I then email the court and copy them in?

[ULA]

It is entirely up to the respondent as to whether or not they want to instruct a solicitor to represent them and I have known of unrepresented respondents.

If the documents are not forthcoming then your husband will have to make a formal application to the Tribunal to Order the respondent to disclose them. In this he will have to set out the documents required, what the relevance of them are to the claim and the efforts gone to try and get the respondent to produce them, without the intervention of the Tribunal. The respondent will have need to be copied into the email, giving them the opportunity to object to the Tribunal to your application if they want to and and set out to the Tribunal that they have been copied into the email.

[Anna1962]

Good evening We have received an email from the respondent starting as below
"As you might appreciate, going through both bundles to compare documents, as well as retrieving the newly requested documents is a time consuming task. The ET has ordered the date the final bundle is provided and we should work together towards that."

They have not sent all of what I asked for and have stated it does not exist which is fine as it proves a point for us.

I asked for confirmation of something and they responded by saying there are no documented records of this. This person involved has given them the information, do I wait for statements or do I go back and say, I did not ask documented records i asked for confirmation.