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Employment tribunal costs advise needed
Rugbyjack
Posts: 1 Newbie
Hi,
I took my last employers to an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal. They made my life a misery and it was a clear case of constructive dismissal but unfortunately it was very difficult to prove my case. It is a global company who had a very good legal team. I found it impossible to get witnesses as they all worked for the company and did not want to get involved. To cut a long story short, i represented myself and wasn't able to prove my case. Costs of £2,500 were awarded against me.
The costs were meant to take into account my ability to pay. They didn't and now i have a £2,500 bill that i cannot pay. I haven't appealed the tribunal decision because i would like to put the case to bed. I also do not want to risk getting more costs awarded against me. I have tried to negotiate an affordable amount and payment structure with the companies solicitors having sent them many letters including copies of my bank statements. Despite demonstrating that i do not have any savings, and my income is minimal, they are still demanding immediate and full payment. I offered to pay the maximum i could afford which is £50 per month but this was refused.
Today i received an order for recovery of award letter from the county court. I don't have any possessions to recover and the solicitors no that i do not have any money so i don't fully understand what they aim to achieve with the order. It seems to be counter productive to both parties and simply malicious.
Put simply the costs awarded are way beyond what i can afford. I get legal aid but all they have advised is to vary the order to give me more time to pay and to apply for the warrant of execution to be suspended. This doesn't help a huge amount as i am still left with a large bill that is mounting as apparently the company is entitled to interest on the fee.
Any suggestions what i can do to get the figure amended to an affordable amount so i can finally put the matter to bed?
I took my last employers to an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal. They made my life a misery and it was a clear case of constructive dismissal but unfortunately it was very difficult to prove my case. It is a global company who had a very good legal team. I found it impossible to get witnesses as they all worked for the company and did not want to get involved. To cut a long story short, i represented myself and wasn't able to prove my case. Costs of £2,500 were awarded against me.
The costs were meant to take into account my ability to pay. They didn't and now i have a £2,500 bill that i cannot pay. I haven't appealed the tribunal decision because i would like to put the case to bed. I also do not want to risk getting more costs awarded against me. I have tried to negotiate an affordable amount and payment structure with the companies solicitors having sent them many letters including copies of my bank statements. Despite demonstrating that i do not have any savings, and my income is minimal, they are still demanding immediate and full payment. I offered to pay the maximum i could afford which is £50 per month but this was refused.
Today i received an order for recovery of award letter from the county court. I don't have any possessions to recover and the solicitors no that i do not have any money so i don't fully understand what they aim to achieve with the order. It seems to be counter productive to both parties and simply malicious.
Put simply the costs awarded are way beyond what i can afford. I get legal aid but all they have advised is to vary the order to give me more time to pay and to apply for the warrant of execution to be suspended. This doesn't help a huge amount as i am still left with a large bill that is mounting as apparently the company is entitled to interest on the fee.
Any suggestions what i can do to get the figure amended to an affordable amount so i can finally put the matter to bed?
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Comments
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You can't. Your income was taken into account and frivolous outgoings (internet, Sky TV, mobile phone) aren't included in working out your expenses.
At the end of the day, you lost. They had to spend money defending something which we only have your word was constructive dismissal. You obviously couldn't convince a tribuneral it was and they tend to side with employees. Simple fact is you owe them money. You're not paying so they are quite rightly pursuing you for it. It isn't being malicious at all.
If someone owed me £2500, I wouldn't consider it counter productive to pursue them for it, send in the bailiffs if need be and bankrupt them if it needed it.0 -
I sat through a three day hearing a couple of years ago in which a claimant put his ex-employer before an ET, presented his own case with the help of his sister - was up against a couple of lawyers who were disorganised and generally performed rather poorly.
The chap discredited the lawyers constantly and examined his employers witnesses very well for a lay person and i was of the opinion he would win hands down...he lost and the tribunal awarded similar costs against him even through by now he had been unemployed for sometime and was existing on jsa.
I won't disclose why the tribunal ruled against him as its not relevant here however it left me to ponder on the outcome and the affect the ruling had on the claimant.You obviously couldn't convince a tribuneral it was and they tend to side with employees.
Can you evidence this?Don’t be a can’t, be a can.0 -
I sat through a three day hearing a couple of years ago in which a claimant put his ex-employer before an ET, presented his own case with the help of his sister - was up against a couple of lawyers who were disorganised and generally performed rather poorly.
The chap discredited the lawyers constantly and examined his employers witnesses very well for a lay person and i was of the opinion he would win hands down...he lost and the tribunal awarded similar costs against him even through by now he had been unemployed for sometime and was existing on jsa.
I won't disclose why the tribunal ruled against him as its not relevant here however it left me to ponder on the outcome and the affect the ruling had on the claimant.
Can you evidence this?
He must have lost for some reason, the judge isn't gonna go for the employers if the employee is in the right.
Malicious claims deserve all they get.The Googlewhacker referance is to Dave Gorman and not to my opinion of the search engine!
If I give you advice it is only a view and always always take professional advice before acting!!!
4 people on the ignore list....Bliss!0 -
You can't. Your income was taken into account and frivolous outgoings (internet, Sky TV, mobile phone) aren't included in working out your expenses.
At the end of the day, you lost. They had to spend money defending something which we only have your word was constructive dismissal. You obviously couldn't convince a tribuneral it was and they tend to side with employees. Simple fact is you owe them money. You're not paying so they are quite rightly pursuing you for it. It isn't being malicious at all.
If someone owed me £2500, I wouldn't consider it counter productive to pursue them for it, send in the bailiffs if need be and bankrupt them if it needed it.
A 'tribuneral' doesn't tend to side with the employees - they side with the law.
What this case highlights is the difficulties involved by taking an employer to tribunal for constructive dismissal and fighting such a case without legal representation - who would have likely advised you of the pitfalls in progressing such a case.
I understand that only 3% of constructive dismissal cases that reach the tribunal stage are successful.
I wonder if ACAS were involved prior to the tribunal hearing and what efforts were made to resolve the dispute.
Based on the post, it seems that there was little preparation and evidence and I am not surprised that costs were awarded to the respondent - actually a rare (ish) occurrence.
An expensive lesson learnt.Googlewhacker wrote: »He must have lost for some reason, the judge isn't gonna go for the employers if the employee is in the right.
Malicious claims deserve all they get.
Absolutely - and although there is nothing to stop a claimant taking their employer to tribunal without legal representation - the two cases above highlight good reasons to seek the services of a solicitor who specialises in employment law.0 -
Googlewhacker wrote: »Malicious claims deserve all they get.
With respect, i know the detail - the claim was competent.
The loss was not because the claim was vexatious or frivolous.Don’t be a can’t, be a can.0 -
With respect, i know the detail - the claim was competent.
The loss was not because the claim was vexatious or frivolous.
Its hard to argue that it wasnt vexatious or frivolous without going into detail so my opinion must be that it was otherwise the employment tribunal wouldnt have awarded costs against the claimant. It is very rare for it to happen unless it is clear that the claim was completley unfounded.
Sorry OP not much help to your post.0 -
With respect, i know the detail - the claim was competent.
The loss was not because the claim was vexatious or frivolous.
If you are not going to inform us as to why he lost then I can only presume that it wasn't competant as he lost and got costs awarded against them.The Googlewhacker referance is to Dave Gorman and not to my opinion of the search engine!
If I give you advice it is only a view and always always take professional advice before acting!!!
4 people on the ignore list....Bliss!0 -
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