Can I ask for additional ET documents...?

mooks

Hi there,

Some people may know I'm going through a long and drawn out unfair dismissal ET at the moment. I finally have a date for the hearing (October 2011 - having submitted the application in December 2009) and we have deadlines for the bundle of documents, witness statements and so on.

We were originally instructed to exchange our indices of evidence in March/April of 2010, which I did, but having written a draft witness statement (so I have a better idea of which evidence I'm going to rely on), there's a piece of evidence I didn't originally intend on using, but think it might come in useful to illustrate a point. It's not pivotal, but useful all the same.

I've written to the Respondent to request a copy of this, asking that they provide it to me by today, but I've not heard anything from them - not even to acknowledge my request or to advise me whether or not they'll provide said document.

The CMD orders say:

"Both parties having already disclosed all relevant documents to each other, a bundle containing only the relevant documents will be agreed between them"

Does this mean no new evidence can be added? The only reason I ask is because the Respondent has added evidence and adjusted their ET3 response to include issues that have taken place after I submitted my ET1 application (i.e. they didn't conclude a capability/grievance until after I submitted the ET1).

If I am allowed to add new evidence, what is the Respondent's obligation to provide this? Have they breached the orders if they fail to provide the requested evidence or to respond at all?

Many thanks for your help...

no-oneknowsme

Your best bet would be to contact the Tribunal Office - you can do this via email - and explain to them that although the deadline for discovery has passed it has come to light that there is a particular document that you would now like to be introduced.

Explain to them what the document is and why you feel it would be beneficial to include it in the agreed bundle .

You should find that the Tribunal Office grant you permission.

The hard part as you have found is getting the Respondent to release the actual document to you!

Personally I would drop an email to the Respondent reminding them that you had requested this document by today and tell them that if it is not recieved within a further 7 days you will have no option but to apply to the Tribunal Office to have an order issued to the Respondent in respect of the document you are awaiting.


Good luck

mooks

That's great advice - thank you.

One of the reasons the case has dragged on so long is because the Respondent has dragged their feet at every stage - we were first supposed to exchange bundles in June last year, but they missed the deadline and didn't even try to provide a bundle until late August - in which "due to an admin error" they omitted all of the documents integral to my case...

I'll give the ET office a call and see what they recommend - thanks again.

no-oneknowsme

Mooks , you do realise that if you have great difficulty getting the Respondent to release anything to you , you could always hit them with subject access request.

Not sure if you are familiar with this or not but basically every individual has the right to know what info any given person/company hold on them . If you send a S.A.R letter to your ex employer they will then have 40 days in which to provide to you EVERYTHING they hold on you....you would of course specifically request this document which you have already requested from them . The charge for a subject access request is £10.

Under the data protection act they will have to by law release the document to you then . The only downside to this is they may well "lose" this document or deny its existance....

Please also be aware that even if the worst happens and you do not get this document added to the agreed bundle , you are entitrely within your rights to mention it during the hearing and explain its content to the judge of the ET , who may then decide that it should be introduced.

People will tell you that you are not allowed to introduce new docs during the hearing but having been there myself and done this I can assure you that it is possible! The judge will be the tiniest bit more willing to allow you to do this if you are representing yourself at the hearing.

I assume you are going this alone without legal representation?

mooks

no-oneknowsme wrote: »

Mooks , you do realise that if you have great difficulty getting the Respondent to release anything to you , you could always hit them with subject access request.

Not sure if you are familiar with this or not but basically every individual has the right to know what info any given person/company hold on them . If you send a S.A.R letter to your ex employer they will then have 40 days in which to provide to you EVERYTHING they hold on you....you would of course specifically request this document which you have already requested from them . The charge for a subject access request is £10.

Under the data protection act they will have to by law release the document to you then . The only downside to this is they may well "lose" this document or deny its existance....

Please also be aware that even if the worst happens and you do not get this document added to the agreed bundle , you are entitrely within your rights to mention it during the hearing and explain its content to the judge of the ET , who may then decide that it should be introduced.

People will tell you that you are not allowed to introduce new docs during the hearing but having been there myself and done this I can assure you that it is possible! The judge will be the tiniest bit more willing to allow you to do this if you are representing yourself at the hearing.

I assume you are going this alone without legal representation?

Hi there,

I'm so sorry for the length of time it's taken to respond - other developments with the case mean I've ended up burying my head for the past week or so...

In the end, the Respondent has come back to me to tell me that they're looking into providing the requested document. The deadline for the agreement of the bundle os tomorrow now, so I don't hold out much hope, but then it's not absolutely integral to my case.

I don't doubt that they will have "lost" the document though - it seemed to happen a lot when I was originally requesting documents. You wouldn't beleve how many documents that should have been logged on my personnel file had been "lost".

You're right about adding new documents during the hearing though - I was involved in one last year where this happened, so if things do come to light during the case, I know that new evidence may be accepted.

I am indeed representing myself - I've been involved in a few ETs in the past, seen how they work, and am confident enough in my case to represent myself. I'm by no means being arrogant about my prospects of success though, and have taken advice throughout the process.

As it happens, the Respondent themselves is now adding documents to the Bundle without me having seen them before, and is asking that I agree the Bundle. They must think I'm stupid...

Apologies again for the delay replying...