employment tribunal

lisanewman1980 · 12 June 2012 at 8:18PM

Hi,
I am looking at taking my old employer to a tribunal after I was unfairly made redundant whilst I was 24 weeks pregnant. I have sought legal advice and they have advised that I have a good case against them, however for certain reasons he has advised that I represent myself. I have my old employer a compromise agreement letter which was forwarded onto a solicitor. I have since had their response and they have stated at the bottom of the letter that should i take it to tribunal then they would look to placing an order against me for their defence costs which will be in the region of 8 - 10k. Is this something they can do or is it scare tactics?

Equaliser123 · 12 June 2012 at 8:25PM

lisanewman1980 wrote: »

Hi,
I am looking at taking my old employer to a tribunal after I was unfairly made redundant whilst I was 24 weeks pregnant. I have sought legal advice and they have advised that I have a good case against them, however for certain reasons he has advised that I represent myself. I have my old employer a compromise agreement letter which was forwarded onto a solicitor. I have since had their response and they have stated at the bottom of the letter that should i take it to tribunal then they would look to placing an order against me for their defence costs which will be in the region of 8 - 10k. Is this something they can do or is it scare tactics?

How long ago did you leave? Why do you consider it unfair?

Did you sign a compromise agreement?

lisanewman1980 · 12 June 2012 at 9:19PM

Hi equalizer,
I was the only 1 made redundant despite them saying they had to make a big dint in their 70k a month salary bill, I only worked part time and was paid less than £800 a month so it surely didn't make the saving they so desperatrly needed to make!
I was advised on the Monday that I may be made redundant, the following day (which was my day off) I got a phone call from them at 4.50pm and was told I was being made redundant!! This also coincided with the md going on holiday and if they would have left my redundancy until he got back then they would have been liable to pay my mat pay. I finished on the 2nd April and I didn't sign anything.
Thanks Lisa

CAB_Malvern_Hills_representative · 13 June 2012 at 12:07PM

Where a case has been submitted to a tribunal they do have a discretionary power to make a costs order for a specified sum ordering one party to pay the costs of the other, generally (but not exclusively) where either of the parties has for example acted 'vexatiously, abusively, disruptively or otherwise unreasonably', or the bringing or conduct of the case was 'misconceived'. The term misconceived includes the meaning 'having no reasonable prospect of success'.
Having said that it is likely that it is being used as a scare tactic but the key point is that you need to get advice on your claim to look at its merits and put all the issues into context. Your local CAB may be able to assist you in this regard and may offer representation subject resources. You can find your local bureau from the search facility n the CAB website https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk

lisanewman1980 · 13 June 2012 at 1:14PM

Hi cab Malvern hills,
I have sought advice from a solicitor and he has advised that I do have a good case, however for certain reasons which ate personal to me he advised that I represent myself.

mynameistallulah · 13 June 2012 at 1:24PM

Equaliser123 wrote: »

Did you sign a compromise agreement?

This is really important, as it would normally exclude the possibility of going to tribunal. If you did not sign, what were they offering and is the offer still available?

CAB_Malvern_Hills_representative · 13 June 2012 at 1:26PM

You can of course represent yourself but because these issues are complex you could get free advice on on how best to present your case from your local CAB or other independant advice agency which could support you through the process

lisanewman1980 · 13 June 2012 at 3:17PM

mynameistallulah wrote: »

This is really important, as it would normally exclude the possibility of going to tribunal. If you did not sign, what were they offering and is the offer still available?

Hi,
I didn't sign anything, I wasn't entitled to redundancy pay as I had only been there since mid August last year.
I was given 1 weeks notice and I was paid for the full week in which I was made redundant.

lisanewman1980 · 13 June 2012 at 3:23PM

CAB_Malvern_Hills_representative wrote: »

You can of course represent yourself but because these issues are complex you could get free advice on on how best to present your case from your local CAB or other independant advice agency which could support you through the process

I will get in touch with them, I am just concious that the 1st July is fast approaching(which is my deadline date for doing a tribunal), could they get something turned around so quick?

Caroline_a · 13 June 2012 at 3:34PM

How long did you work for them?

lisanewman1980 · 13 June 2012 at 4:14PM

From August 2011 until April 2012, as it is a sex discrimination case because I believe the reason I was made redundant was due to my pregnancy then I can still make a claim against them.

I advised them I was pregnant on 17th February 2012, the following day I was given a letter asking me to attend a six month review on the 23rd February 2012 (this hadn't been mentioned previously), during the six month review it was decided that my probabtionary period would be extended due to the standard of my work (there had never been any complaints with the standard before i advised them I was pregnant) The instance which they used as their reasoning for extending my probationary period was because I used the same photograph in a draft brochure twice! Not really a major issue in my opinion, I am well aware of the mistakes made by other members of staff which have caused a lot of problems and they were never treated in the same manner.

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