Consequences of loosing the case in Employment Tribunal

katekat

Sorry but a bit more advice needed as the situation is getting heated here. We gave them a contra offer to settle, they said they don't agree and they want to go to court.

Today they told us they want to postpone the case due to not being able to agree on the bundle (where we already said we leave it up to the judge to choose which bindle they want to use).

However in the letter to the tribunal they did not mention the bundle at all, just said that the parties are in the advance stage of settlement and having a hearing in less than a week will disable us from reaching an agreement.


We had only one single offer mentioned in my previous post, so it is no way advanced as their last word was they going to court. Do you think it is just another trick to buy their time? Can I mention in my response to the Tribunal how much I was offered in the settlement? I would really want avoiding postponing as we had enough of it!

zzzLazyDaisy

katekat wrote: »

Can I mention in my response to the Tribunal how much I was offered in the settlement? I would really want avoiding postponing as we had enough of it!

No. In fact settlement negotiations should not be brought to the attention of the tribunal and the employer's solicitor should not have mentioned this.

This is clearly a delaying tactic and I suggest that you write to the tribunal and say something like

'I do not consent to the respondent's application to postpone the hearing as I do not believe that the delay will serve any useful purpose. Regarding the respondent's reference to the parties being in an 'advanced stage of settlement'; the respondent made an offer which was not acceptable and has since declined to enter into any further settlement negotiations. In all the circumstances I respectfully invite the tribunal to refuse the respondent's application to postpone the hearing currently fixed for [date]'.

At the very least this might serve to focus their minds on the hearing, since it seems that they are not prepared, and this could well prompt a further and better settlement proposal.

katekat

LazyDaisy, thank you so much for your help so far. I am really positive about seeing a happy end. Today we are exchanging the witness statements, so interesting to see what they have on us.
Today they requested to meet in person with OH to discuss settlement, but we replied we prefer to speak via conciliator (ACAS) who is already involved.

FIngress crossed all goes well. Thank you again for your help.

zzzLazyDaisy

katekat wrote: »

Today they requested to meet in person with OH to discuss settlement, but we replied we prefer to speak via conciliator (ACAS) who is already involved. .

That was exactly the right response. Well done.

Meetings in person are absolutely not necessary, and are generally not advisable, since the main purpose is usually for the employer to bully the employee into accepting a settlement, and/or getting in some sneaky cross examination about the case, which they can then side-swipe you with during the hearing. Dirty tactics, best avoided.

Out of interest, have you copied your statements and bundle to the tribunal? It isn't an absolute necessity (unless of course the directions say this) but it is a good idea. I'd do a covering letter saying something like

'In the light of the respondent's refusal to incorporate my documents into the main bundle and/or to provide a fully prepared index in accordance with the directions, I have had no alternative but to compile my own separate bundle in order to complete my witness statement. I enclose copies of my bundle and witness statement (s) for the information of the tribunal, and confirm that copies have also be forwarded to the respondent's solicitor'

Dx

jobbingmusician

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

...The fact that your trade union has withdrawn from representing you is a very bad sign. It shows that their legal advisers take the view that you have a less than 50/50 chance of success. How they have come to that conclusion, I can't say, as I don't have privy to the information and documentation that the union's legal advisers have. But I can tell you that, when I was in practice as an advocate in tribunals I represented some household name employers which recognised unions and had collective agreements. I never came across a single case of an employee winning a claim after their trade union had withdrawn from representing.....

*sticks hand in air*

ME! ME! ME!

I won my case when the union withdrew. And subsequent conversations with an employment solicitor friend have led me to believe that I could actually have sued for constructive dismissal (which I did not pursue due to complications around the 1 year qualifying period). The union advised me incorrectly about this.

The union also withdrew from a second case, which again I believed I would win (although for personal reasons I have not pursued this to date). It does seem to me that unions are taking any opportunity to withdraw, nowadays, and that many union fees are simply money down the toilet. :mad:

Sorry, don't wish to hijack the thread (or indeed to elaborate on these matters) but thought it was worth making the point that unions are in fact reluctant to support their members!

zzzLazyDaisy

Great! Well done!!

And thanks for letting us know, I am sure OP will be pleased to hear about a positive outcome :j

katekat

Thank you for that. Good to know others have suceed. Union was really a waste of time!

katekat

LazyDaisy, we did not send the index to the tribunal, but all the communication about the dispute, saying we have got the bundle ready.

The witness statement exchange deadline has just past, we sent ours, but no sign of theirs. They called with another offer but still low........

Does it mean they have no witness statements?

zzzLazyDaisy

No. It means they are playing silly beggars.

You need to be clear on this rule, which all solicitors know, but which often confuses claimants...

The tribunal proceedings continue unless and until a settlement is REACHED.

The fact that there may be settlement negotiations going on in the background is completely irrelevant to the tribunal proceedings.

Think of it like this - there are two separate rooms. The main room is the tribunal room, and it deals with the tribunal claim.

The other room is a secret room run by ACAS where people can go if they want to try and come to an agreement.

The tribunal room knows this secret room exists but totally ignores it and doesn't want to know what goes on in there.

So you have two separate processes running side by side.

It is always open to you to the parties to come to an agreement with each other about some aspect of the process and to ask the tribunal to allow time for this to happen - but what you should NOT do is allow the respondent's solicitor to bully or manipulate you, or to lull you into a false sense of security, and then drop something on you at the last minute.

They have not complied with the order for exchange of statements and you have. That puts them at an advantage because now they can take their clients instructions and change their statements. That is not acceptable and is the reason why statements are mutually exchanged.

If the statements do not turn up tomorrow, write to the tribunal and say something like

I am writing to seek the assistance of the tribunal. On [date] the tribunal ordered that the parties exchange witness statements by [date]. I forwarded my statement to the respondent's solicitor on [date], but at the time if writing I have still not received the respondent's statements. As hearing is now less than two weeks away, I would be very grateful if you could please order the respondent's solicitor to send me the statements as a matter of urgency, as I am unable to prepare for the hearing without these documents.

Dx

katekat

The hearing is actually on Monday, so that leaves us almost no time to prepare...
So with the settlement, if we turn down the offers and decide to go to the tribunal, can the judge decide that it was unreasonable to reject the offers and can it affect their decision on winning losing/ amount of the reward?