You say you ?have been advised to submit a grievance letter? ? who exactly gave you this advice? If your household insurer is covering legal fees, there may be terms and conditions which require you to do this ? so it may be wise to keep them sweet bearing in mind the exorbitant nature of costs. If the insurer is willing to cover these then you should follow the advice of the lawyers they recommend.
You say you have ?exchanged letters with the company? ? did these take the form of an objection or a complaint? Even if you didn?t specify these as grievances exactly, they could be accepted as such ? and it will work in your favour if your employer did not follow their grievance procedure or fully consider your objections before you were dismissed.
Normally employers have a Grievance Procedure (ensure you have a copy of this) which they should have followed while you were still there. A failure to follow the Code does not, in itself, make a person or organisation liable to proceedings, however employers and employees are advised to follow at least the ACAS Code of Practice, and not to do so (on either side) can affect any compensatory award you may get. There is plenty of information on the ACAS websitehttp://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2175
If you do write a further grievance letter, IMO you should include the basic facts (no assumptions, hearsay or emotion) of your grievance, details like dates and quotes from correspondence/emails will help. Your solicitor should be able to help you compose this. However, if you are no longer employed by them, your ex-employer may choose not to take any action but this would be an unwise decision on their part.
You may wish to suggest independent mediation to them; even if you no longer work for them it can still be used as a method of reaching a resolution and settlement. There are loads of expert organisations that specialise in this ? your solicitor may be able to put you in touch with one. Normally, the employer would bear the costs of mediation as this is far more cost-effective for them than preparing and attending a tribunal; and is a far less adversarial approach to the problem. You should be clear in your own mind what outcome you want whether it?s reinstatement or compensation etc.
If your grievance is not resolved amicably and you proceed to Tribunal then all the information and the outcomes will form part of your witness statement. Tribunals expect you to have raised all your grievance points plus any supporting evidence with your employer before going to Court, they don?t like ?surprises? at the hearing. However, do remember a Tribunal is an extremely stressful experience, could last several days and even when you are sure you have a cast-iron case, the employer?s barrister will give you severe grilling and pick holes in your arguments; there is never a guarantee you will win. However, if your solicitor agrees you have a strong unfair dismissal and discrimination case, the burden of proof is on them to justify their actions and you can enjoy watching your lawyers put your ex-employer though the mill!
Good luck!
Wizzie