Employment tribunal Question Schedule of loss

popupstands

I am just putting a Schedule of Loss and would like to know if I could claim a compensatory award for What actions my ex boss did

He was abusive and attacked me, the Police were called but no action was taken because of lack of evidence although I have a Voice recording where he says I did it because you were on your phone, he also said to me If you phone police I will say "you kicked me in the boll--ks" (i don't have that bit recorded) he regularly put me down, about my weight etc
Currently I am still receiving medical help and still on anti antidepressant
its almost been a year and hearing is very near now, I don't feel I will be in a position to work again for a very long time.

Mistral001

Suggest getting professional legal advice. You need to know what is relevant and not relevant to your case. Many items you think are relevant, might not be and perhaps there are or items that you will miss. Try Citizens Advice. They could perhaps point you in the direction of a good professional help

SarEl

You appear to be talking about compensation for the alleged attack. This has nothing to do with an employment tribunal, who are only concerned with employment matters. They do not "punish" employers for what they do, they make awards for breaches of employment law. If you claim that your health has been injured as a result of your treatment this is a matter of perosnal injury and a totally different area of law. I agree that legal advice would be a good idea.

popupstands

I am saying that the remarks and abusive behaviour surely had an affect on my mental health and the reason why I went for constructive dismissal would this not be aggravated damages, my doctor does not feel I am ready for work at the moment and suggest that it may take 6 months to come off medication!!!

so do I have a potential future loss of earnings claim

Emmzi

Listen to SarEl, she knows her stuff. That is indeed a personal damages claim. You should be looking primarily at loss of earnings.

What you FEEL is not relevant, what your doctor says is, in terms of how long you will be off work, and it being caused by your employer and no one else.

But remember and deduct benefits from the amount you are claiming.

Do you have legal cover on your home insurance? You sound like you could use a professional hand. Especially as ETs are stressful.

SarEl

Yes, I agree. Employment tribunals can award compensatory awards to compensate you for the loss of your employment. If an employer has acted badly in relation to employment law then the award would tend to be at a higher end. But that is all that they can compensate you for. They cannot compensate you for an alleged attack, they cannot compensate you for the alleged damage to your health - they have no knowledge of and no jurisdiction over such issues. If you win, then they will compensate you for the loss of your job, and to some extent for potential loss to future earnings. But you are looking, it would appear, to be compensated for the threat and damage that you allege has been done to you - that is not their job. In some cases - discrimination - there can be additional awards for injury to feelings. But this would not seem to apply, and it is still a marginal uplift. In your second post you mention potential loss of earnings, and as I said, this would be consdiered by a tribunal (with eveidence of course). But your first post indicated that you were looking for compensation for what you allege was done to you. That is a different matter altogther.

Mistral001

The alleged assault (I am sounding like SaraEl here, but it is an open forum afterall). The alleged assault is obviously causing you a lot of anguish, but perhaps you should try to put it to the back of your mind for now and deal with the constructive dismissal claim.

Maybe SarEl will correct me here, but the alleged assault could be dealt with by civil action where, I believe, the evidence does not have to be as strong as in a criminal court. Could be expensive if legal aid is not available.

SarEl

Mistral001 wrote: »

The alleged assault (I am sounding like SaraEl here, but it is an open forum afterall). The alleged assault is obviously causing you a lot of anguish, but perhaps you should try to put it to the back of your mind for now and deal with the constructive dismissal claim.

Maybe SarEl will correct me here, but the alleged assault could be dealt with by civil action where, I believe, the evidence does not have to be as strong as in a criminal court. Could be expensive if legal aid is not available.

Not my area I'm afraid - one tends, unless it is relevant, to dump all the wider legal stuff you do in qualifying - and I qualified a very long tome ago! I know that the evidence bar for perosnal injury is quite high, and a doctors opinion that health outcomes are a result of workplace issues is seldom enough - they were not there and cannot say they know what happened for a fact, and with mental health it is often harder because employment problems are not provably the sole or major cause.

Uncertain

SarEl wrote: »

I know that the evidence bar for perosnal injury is quite high, and a doctors opinion that health outcomes are a result of workplace issues is seldom enough - they were not there and cannot say they know what happened for a fact, and with mental health it is often harder because employment problems are not provably the sole or major cause.

That is also my (limited) understanding of the position.

I would also add, from a practical point of view, that an employer is legally obliged to have employer's liability insurance. Assuming we are not talking about a cowboy trading illegally (in which case there would be little point in suing anyway) any injury claim will be taken on and no doubt defended by the insurers. Convincing a court, on the balance of probabilities, that a mental illness both exists and was directly caused by some failing on the part of the employer is going to be a real battle. It can sometimes be done and the payout could be substantial but it will be fought all the way.

This is very different from the employment side of things. Most likely the employer will be paying their own legal costs which they won't get back even if the win. Also any payout is likely to be very modest (the national average is only around £5K). Because of this a sensible employer may well look at settling a case even if they are likely to win or putting a very finite limit on the amount they will spend on fighting.

OneYorkshireLass

*new*

I'm tagging onto a relatively recent thread - hope no one minds.

Just a hypothetical question.The ET judge has recommended a settlement in a disability discrimination case. If the respondent (employer) does not answer the schedule of loss or offers a sum vastly below the schedule of loss, what would happen to them at Tribunal?

I suppose I'm asking whether the claimant would not have to go through the full tribunal hearing ...? Or does that never happen?

SarEl

That never happens.

A judge doesn't have the power to recoomend settlement - they can drop a heavy hint but that is the extent of theor power. If they do not agree then it goes to tribunal. it ios unlawful to penalise someone for not agreeing to settle before tribunal - so it won;t in itself have any impact on the outcome.