We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
The Forum now has a brand new text editor, adding a bunch of handy features to use when creating posts. Read more in our how-to guide
Employment Tribunal / CMD advise
trialanderror
Posts: 8 Forumite
Hi,
I was hoping to get peoples opinion on the following;
I have an Employment Tribunal Claim with my previous employers, which has now been ongoing for around 5 months.
Yesterday I had to go to a Case Management Discussion, it was not at all what I expected or was told to expect.
The respondents brought people with them which I didn't know was allowed (maybe I should have enquired more before I went) therefore as I am representing myself, I was sat on my own.
I have 2 claims, 1 is related to sex discrimination and equal pay and the other is constructive dismissal and like work, which the judge kept referring to as unfair dismissal.
Basically, what I am wanting to know from people is a) have you experienced a CMD and what was the outcome and b) has anyone claimed Equal Pay.
The reason I ask these questions is because in my CMD yesterday I felt the judge favoured the respondents, I know someone that works at my previous employers, who informed me that the HR staff that had attended the CMD were laughing afterwards and saying "the judge favoured them and that I didn't have a case" the judge didn't actually say this, he said "it is very difficult to prove constructive dismissal"
This is because when I left my previous employers I started another job, where I only stayed 5 weeks, he was critical about this and asked why, I confirmed it was because of the way I felt, lack of confidence, anxiety etc. etc. (there is a much bigger picture to all of this I can assure you), I also mentioned that I have recently set up a small business and he asked if it was profitable, I replied "not at the moment" and he just pulled a face and said "well that isn't very good" I felt he was favouring the respondent rather than being neutral !!! I didn't realise a CMD would include all the questioning, so now I am rather confused.
With regards to the Equal Pay claim, he said this could take up to 18 months, it can be very confusing and cumbersome, they would more than likely have to get an independent expert involved and most of the time their reports were either useless or negative. He did make a very quick comment about my claim being strong with regards to the equal pay, but brushed over it very quickly. This CMD was 90 minutes long, mostly filled with legal jargon and mumbling, the judge said that if I wanted advise on the Equal Pay aspect the tribunal offices could help as they have volunteers, I rang the tribunal office this morning and they know nothing about volunteers !! The Judge also commented at the end of the CMD that he was retiring tomorrow so another judge would be taking this case on and there could be changes ???? I'm sorry, but I don't understand why they would give this guy the case in the first place, I honestly think he was a "stand in" as the original judge was still in a Tribunal and they probably didn't want to postpone my CMD at such short notice. To be honest, he didn't seem like he had read my ET1 form and digested it as he was confused about some of the points, which when read thoroughly are quite self explanatory.
So all in all, my previous employers are now thinking they are on a winning streak because of this useless judge and I am fuming, I really should have spoken to a clerk or someone before I left the tribunal offices, but I felt that emotional with it all that I just wanted to get out of there.
Now I am dreading the whole situation, whereas before the CMD I was very confident about my claim and had been advised that I had a strong case. I am totally confused and just wondered if anyone else had been through this or if anyone could offer some advise on what I should do next. I am seriously thinking about retracting the claim and just forgetting about it all !!
Many thanks.
I was hoping to get peoples opinion on the following;
I have an Employment Tribunal Claim with my previous employers, which has now been ongoing for around 5 months.
Yesterday I had to go to a Case Management Discussion, it was not at all what I expected or was told to expect.
The respondents brought people with them which I didn't know was allowed (maybe I should have enquired more before I went) therefore as I am representing myself, I was sat on my own.
I have 2 claims, 1 is related to sex discrimination and equal pay and the other is constructive dismissal and like work, which the judge kept referring to as unfair dismissal.
Basically, what I am wanting to know from people is a) have you experienced a CMD and what was the outcome and b) has anyone claimed Equal Pay.
The reason I ask these questions is because in my CMD yesterday I felt the judge favoured the respondents, I know someone that works at my previous employers, who informed me that the HR staff that had attended the CMD were laughing afterwards and saying "the judge favoured them and that I didn't have a case" the judge didn't actually say this, he said "it is very difficult to prove constructive dismissal"
This is because when I left my previous employers I started another job, where I only stayed 5 weeks, he was critical about this and asked why, I confirmed it was because of the way I felt, lack of confidence, anxiety etc. etc. (there is a much bigger picture to all of this I can assure you), I also mentioned that I have recently set up a small business and he asked if it was profitable, I replied "not at the moment" and he just pulled a face and said "well that isn't very good" I felt he was favouring the respondent rather than being neutral !!! I didn't realise a CMD would include all the questioning, so now I am rather confused.
With regards to the Equal Pay claim, he said this could take up to 18 months, it can be very confusing and cumbersome, they would more than likely have to get an independent expert involved and most of the time their reports were either useless or negative. He did make a very quick comment about my claim being strong with regards to the equal pay, but brushed over it very quickly. This CMD was 90 minutes long, mostly filled with legal jargon and mumbling, the judge said that if I wanted advise on the Equal Pay aspect the tribunal offices could help as they have volunteers, I rang the tribunal office this morning and they know nothing about volunteers !! The Judge also commented at the end of the CMD that he was retiring tomorrow so another judge would be taking this case on and there could be changes ???? I'm sorry, but I don't understand why they would give this guy the case in the first place, I honestly think he was a "stand in" as the original judge was still in a Tribunal and they probably didn't want to postpone my CMD at such short notice. To be honest, he didn't seem like he had read my ET1 form and digested it as he was confused about some of the points, which when read thoroughly are quite self explanatory.
So all in all, my previous employers are now thinking they are on a winning streak because of this useless judge and I am fuming, I really should have spoken to a clerk or someone before I left the tribunal offices, but I felt that emotional with it all that I just wanted to get out of there.
Now I am dreading the whole situation, whereas before the CMD I was very confident about my claim and had been advised that I had a strong case. I am totally confused and just wondered if anyone else had been through this or if anyone could offer some advise on what I should do next. I am seriously thinking about retracting the claim and just forgetting about it all !!
Many thanks.
0
Comments
-
Have you spoken to an employment solicitor to see if you have a chance or not?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 -
Hi Googlewhacker
Yeah I have taken advise and have been told I have a strong case.
I think that is why I was so annoyed with the Judges response yesterday !! I didn't think they were supposed to show which side they favoured, especially at a CMD, but I felt it was clear which way he was swaying.
I'm really confused now !!0 -
I think from what I can understand the judge believes you **may** have a strong case for equal pay but to get to the bottom of this could take months and months and whilst I have not experienced one I hear on here the stresses that it can cause.
The judge is saying the constructive/unfair dismissal is a no go.
Who said you have a strong case and how come if you have a strong case are you not using 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 -
I have taken legal advise, but I have also had 2 independent HR individuals, (who only deal with tribunals) look at it and they have agreed it's a strong case.
I cannot really afford the legal fees so decided to do this on my own (probably my biggest mistake).
My hearing for the Constructive Dismissal case is in the summer and I am thinking that I should now get legal assistance, but what would this cost ?0 -
if you have house insurance u may have legal cover on that....worth a check!
If no luck why not a no win no fee solicitor?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 -
I will have a look at my home insurance tomorrow, thanks for that.
Not sure I trust the no win no fee companies, don't they take most of what is being claimed?0 -
trialanderror wrote: »I will have a look at my home insurance tomorrow, thanks for that.
Not sure I trust the no win no fee insurance companies, don't they take most of what is being claimed?
Probably but then is it better to win 70% of 10k or 100% of nothing? I don't work for those type of companies though and never used them so can't say if they are any good
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 -
Yeah, I get your point - if it was only 30% that they take I could live with that, it's when they start getting silly and asking for 80 and 90%, which i have heard has happened in other cases.
I need to look into it don't I.
By the sounds of it you think I should definitley get a representative and not do this on my own ??0 -
it can be and has been done on peoples own but you have to be confident to go through it and do your research. i just worry you are not that confident in yourself.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 -
"it is very difficult to prove constructive dismissal" The judge is actually just stating facts here; something like 3% of CD claims are sucessful at Tribunal. Although it may have come across to you that the Judge was favouring the Respondent he was more than likely giving you a steer towards some realism. As an urepresented Claimant you may find it difficult to take the emotion out of your case and focuss on the substantive facts, which will determine whether you claim succeeds or fails.0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 354.2K Banking & Borrowing
- 254.4K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 455.3K Spending & Discounts
- 247.2K Work, Benefits & Business
- 603.9K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 178.4K Life & Family
- 261.4K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.7K Read-Only Boards