Terrified at Employment Tribunal

Ronaldo_Mconaldo

So why are you taking them to tribunal anyway, why not give some details relating to that.

Terrified

I heard back from them and they mentioned that there was no technical problem but that I should have downloaded the form before completing it. But that was exactly what I did. They claim that the tribunal hotline should have told me or instructed me more carefully but I think where this is going is that this 3rd party is throwing back the problem to the tribunal and the tribunal is throwing this back to the 3rd party.
I feel claimants going to tribunal are disdvantaged unless they are rich where they can fork out the hefty legal fees. I asked a lawyer and they said it will cost me 300 pounds per hour of their service. And minimum it would take more than 30 hours.
How can the tribunal allow my ex-employer to do this to me? My ex-employer has had so many grievance cases against them and can't the tribunal dig into that and see that there is a tendency.

Terrified

Ronaldo, it is a case of continuous bullying harrassment and discrimination which affected me alot to the extent where I wanted to end my life. Of course, I have recovered from that already.

I have given my original notepad to my ex-employer lawyer who have viewed it. They have said they will defend that somehow with a response to the tribunal in the next 1 week.

Strangely, I was ordered to show them my notepad within 24 hours but my ex-employer's lawyer have more than 5 days to respond.

Is it because I was not represented by a lawyer?

SarEl

Jarndyce wrote: »

The claim being accepted by the Tribunal office is purely an administrative acknowledgement of receipt, and that it was a properly constructed claim - admin staff do not generally rule cases out on timing issues.

Less than that in fact - it is nothing but a receipt. It doesn't even mean that the claim is within the jurisdiction of the tribunal or that they can hear it.

OP, as Jarndyce has said to you, there is no point in worrying about it now. The PHR has been held and even if you found new evidence they would not accept it - cannot accept it. The PHR is it, the one shot you had at arguing why the deadline should be extended. Like Jarndyce, I would have to say that I wouldn't hold my breath - although I understand your dilemma, the grounds you have submitted are not acceptable grounds for dealy, and even if the PHR were to go in your favour, you may find that the employers lawyers will appeal the decision to an EAT (especially if they are indeed a top firm). Basically, the only time that postal delays are accepted as a justifiable reason is when there are strikes. On general grounds it is your responsibility to get the claim form there on time if you have to walk and put it in their hand. I realise that this may not seen very fair to you, but there have to be rules, and rules are rules.

Your ex-employer are not doing this to you - honestly. It is not their decision, but it is their right to call you on this legal issue. As they will on many more if you are allowed to proceed. This is not personal - it is a lawyers job. The decision on whether to allow the claim to proceed is the judges and nobody elses (unless an appeal is made to the EAT).

Terrified

Thanks SarEl for your honest response.

In such a case, will my ex-employer get their lawyer to ask me to pay their cost so far? I have somehow been advised by a lawyer who I called up yesterday and who informed me that my ex-employer has the right to go to tribunal to recover their cost from me.

However, I don't understand why I would need to pay their cost.

Continuous sleepless nights.

SarEl

Jarndyce wrote: »

So if they did not tell you the outcome there and then, you must either be waiting for the decision or they have allowed the claim by default and it is now down to the other side to appeal. I suggest that if you don't know which of these applies then you ring the Tribunal Office and ask them to clarify.

PHR generally reserve judgement. It takes 1-2 weeks to get the judges direction. Unlike a CMD they are legal hearings and subject to legal challenge. So the judge may have to do their homework (look up case law) and the decision must be formally written, as would any legal ruling. If you know how to listen to what the judge is saying you can generally work out what the decision will be, but I wouldn't expect the OP to have been able to do that.

SarEl

Terrified wrote: »

Thanks SarEl for your honest response.

In such a case, will my ex-employer get their lawyer to ask me to pay their cost so far? I have somehow been advised by a lawyer who I called up yesterday and who informed me that my ex-employer has the right to go to tribunal to recover their cost from me.

However, I don't understand why I would need to pay their cost.

Continuous sleepless nights.

No. This absolutely will not happen. You can stop worrying about that. I promise you. Even if the case is not admitted (that means accepted to go to tribunal) you made a genuine claim in the belief that you had been treated contrary to the law (whether that belief is correct or not isn't relevant) and you made a genuine error in a late submission. No tribunal would award costs at this stage on this basis. As Jarndyce has already indciated to you, if there is a risk of that happening the judge would have told you so in no uncertain terms - they drop hints about such things that are delivered by sledge hammer, and nobody could miss it!

Jarndyce

Terrified wrote: »

How can the tribunal allow my ex-employer to do this to me? My ex-employer has had so many grievance cases against them and can't the tribunal dig into that and see that there is a tendency.

A Tribunal can only look at the case that is before it - and in many cases can only really provide remedy after the event, unfortunately, which is a problem with a lot of employment law (but that's another argument). I spend a lot of my time in and around Tribunals and I can say that generally they are fair and open, although that does vary around the country - the further north you go the more help you will get as an unrepresented party I would say as a very, very rough rule of thumb.

Terrified wrote: »

Ronaldo, it is a case of continuous bullying harrassment and discrimination which affected me alot to the extent where I wanted to end my life. Of course, I have recovered from that already.

Which characteristic (sex, race, disability, age for example) are you claiming discrimination on?

I have given my original notepad to my ex-employer lawyer who have viewed it. They have said they will defend that somehow with a response to the tribunal in the next 1 week.

Strangely, I was ordered to show them my notepad within 24 hours but my ex-employer's lawyer have more than 5 days to respond.

Is it because I was not represented by a lawyer?

No - that seems quite reasonable - you already had the notepad in your posession you didn't need more time than that to produce it, but for the lawyers seeing it for the first time they need a reasonable amount of time to respond.

sunflower_2

hello OP

i represented myself at my tribunal and won - even though my ex-employer and his legal team were very very intimidating.

when i think back i was terrified but knew they were in the wrong (i was made redundant BY LETTER whilst on maternity leave).

i also knew they had employed a "temp" to fill my position therefore my role wasnt redundant, they just didnt want to employ anyone with kids

as long as you are confident in your case - i wouldnt even give them the satisfaction of you being anything other than confident.

unfortunately i think having 3 months to file a case and you waiting til the last minute doesnt look good. although i dont know anything about the rules or how strict they are.

was there a reason you waited so long?
i acknowledge you being unable to submit your case online, however i wouldnt have left it late enough to learn this?
my case would have been submitted with at least 2-3 weeks to spare?

good luck, i hope you get to have your day in court

xx

Terrified

Hi Jarndyce, my grievance is on sex, race discrimination and victimisation.

Hi Sunflower, the reason why I had to wait until the last day of submission is because I had, few days before the deadline, received the response from my ex-employer on the decision of my appeal to my grievance. I believe they planned it that way so that I run out of time.

Also, what can I do? My ex-employer is going around bad-mouthing me and saying things which are totally untrue. What can I do to get them to stop this? The work I do is very niche and so I hear back these comments very quickly.

I feel the evil always have an upper hand and the disadvantaged have a lower hand. This is in my case. If I was rich, I would have appointed a lawyer. Lawyers are so expensive.

This is so unlike in other European countries.