Employment Tribunal - preliminary hearing on Thursday: help

[Namechangeemploymenthelp]

I am taking my employer to an ET. (alleging Disability Discrimination and other matters). The preliminary hearing is due to be held on Thursday. They (my employer’s legal representatives) claim they didn’t receive notification from the tribunal about the date (my emails about the agenda etc were, they claim , the first they were aware) and so haven’t adhered to normal timeframes.

This afternoon they have just sent me a bundle of papers (over 44 pages long) which includes issues and other points they would like discussed on Thursday. I obviously now don’t have a lot of time to prepare a response and have a number of concerns. The concerns include, for example: that they are challenging my right to call witnesses (my Drs) whilst refusing to say who theirs will be (beyond there are three or four of them), requesting a schedule of loss from me within the next 14 days but saying they should be given 12 weeks prior to the final hearing to produce their paperwork. They want immediate clarification on a number of points: for example a comparator (actual or hypothetical) on which I am relying upon for the purposes of the discrimination claim etc… the list of concerns goes on… and the language they are using is very technical/ not easy to understand.

I did initially have legal representation (to draft the ET1 etc) but have been on nil pay since the beginning of the year and now all my savings have gone, so am currently without legal support. I do have legal expenses insurance but they are still considering the merits of the claim (they initially agreed to take it on, then my employers conceded on one point so the insurers are reconsidering the merits). So in short I am currently doing this alone whilst still not fully well. It’s not great.

I know I am panicking. The email literally came through in the past hour so I need to take a minute to calm down, reflect and work out a strategy. I just wondered if anyone had been through something similar and, if so, whether you could give any advice? Thank you.

@Namechangeemploymenthelp

They (my employer’s legal representatives) claim they didn’t receive notification from the tribunal about the date (my emails about the agenda etc were, they claim , the first they were aware) and so haven’t adhered to normal timeframes.
At the meeting on Thursday have a bullet point of issues. The first is what date the Tribunal notified your employer, check address sent to etc. If the Tribunal made a mistake ask the tribunal to confirm adjusted timescales for you both. If the tribunal sent the info then ask the tribunal to advise what the standard procedure is when a respondent claims they did not receive tribunal correspondence so you as a claimant are not disadvantaged.

they have just sent me a bundle of papers (over 44 pages long) which includes issues and other points they would like discussed on Thursday.
Do what you can but advise the tribunal that you need more time to consider and respond. Point out that you adhered to timescales the respondents have not. The answer to the first point above will guide how far you can push back.

that they are challenging my right to call witnesses (my Drs) whilst refusing to say who theirs will be (beyond there are three or four of them),
They really want it both ways. You are allowed to call the witnesses who can give relevant evidence. Your Dr can give evidence about your disability which is relevant. WRT their witnesses ask at the meeting on Thursday for the date by which you should get the respondents witness statements. The tribunal should help you.

requesting a schedule of loss from me within the next 14 days
I am not able to advise if this is reasonable but you will need to produce one so if you can do this. Note: they may use this to offer a settlement as it’s cheaper than going to an ET.

Respondents saying they should be given 12 weeks prior to the final hearing to produce their paperwork.
The schedule of loss is separate. You should both have the same deadline to hand over paperwork. Again on Thursday ask the tribunal for the standard timelines.

They want immediate clarification on a number of points: for example a comparator (actual or hypothetical) on which I am relying upon for the purposes of the discrimination claim etc… the list of concerns goes on… and the language they are using is very technical/ not easy to understand.
On Thursday ask the tribunal to agree a response date.

legal representation
You may need help, are you in a TU as they maybe able to help. Other posters on here may also be able to help.

Thank you so much for your helpful response- will take on all your comments and act accordingly.

I don’t know if you or anyone else can help re comparators. Reading into it - sounds like the decision in the Malcolm case has made disability discrimination cases very difficult? Failure to make reasonable adjustments (obviously depending on the details of the case) is easier to prove? Almost makes you question what the purpose of that part of the Act is now? Or have I completely misunderstood?

Could the disability law service advise?

Thank you. I think they take 3-5 days to respond but maybe could help longer term.

I hope today went well.

Thank you for asking. It was challenging. Not having a legal representative is really difficult - but I just can’t afford one. The discussions got very technical and I didn’t follow a lot of it. I did ask for clarification but there is only so often you can do that before you think the judge is getting annoyed with you. It’s clearly much easier for them (and I understand that) when both parties have legal representation. I have been given a number of actions to complete in the next 14 days (mostly around comparators) which I will have to do a lot more research on.

I do wonder whether many people without legal representation are ever successful in ETs. It is meant to be possible but would be interested in the figures. I live in London and was quoted tens of thousands for legal representation and being on nil pay I just can’t risk it.

I do have legal expenses insurance but that has been difficult as well- every time the respondent changes their position the legal insurance people seem to want to reassess the merits of the case/ they also pay so little that most of the law firms I approached either won’t accept or want the fee topping up. So so far I’ve had no help from them at all - just loads of paperwork to complete and submit.

As you can tell I’m starting to get a bit cynical about the whole process: it feels very weighted in favour of those with £… But maybe that’s just the preliminary hearing?

All you can do is what is asked e.g. complete the 14 actions. Good luck.