Employment tribunal withdrawal

zzzLazyDaisy

I would let sleeping dogs lie. Nothing is going to happen unless/until you get a letter from the tribunal. The most likely thing is either a) it will quietly die a death, or b) the tribunal will write to the respondent asking for their comments, in which case that letter should also be copied to you.

For the moment I suggest that you try to put it out of your mind until you hear anything further.

Daisy

claireloupul

Hi there,
Another update. On Friday evening I received a email from
The solicitors saying that they had spoken to the courts and they
Are going to allow the application of costs hearing.
They then go on to say this will be £3000 plus a extra £1500
For the hearing.
The company have made me a offer of £3000 and if I don't accept
By the end of the week they will go ahead.

I'm really not sure where I go from here, I can't afford to pay that money as I'm in a Dmp and any extra money I have goes to them.

I have researched this to death on the Internet and can't find anything about costs hearings or what happens anything.

I myself haven't heard anything from the court either but I'm thinking it could come this week.

If anyone could help I would be grateful.

zzzLazyDaisy

Hi - the Tribunal notify BOTH parties of any hearing by letter, so it is odd that the solicitors have apparently been notified and you haven't.

So first thing to do is to phone the Tribunal and find out what is happening.

Second - just because the case is listed for a hearing doesn't mean they will be successful, and even if they are successful, it doesn't mean the tribunal will order that level of costs - even after a full hearing it is unusual for costs to be ordered, and certainly unusual for that level of costs.

Is this recent letter marked 'without prejudice save as to the issue of costs?'

D

claireloupul

Thanks again for all your help, I've read some other posts of yours and its great that you help people like me so thanks again.

It's not headed in those words without predudice but just says they have contacted the tribunal and they intend to list the matter for a costs hearing in those exact words.

They then say costs from the costs warning are £3000 plus vat and then a further £1600 for the costs warning hearing.

Then they say they client would like to make a offer of £3000 plus vat and the cut off date is Friday to reply.

So do I reply to this email?

I will call the courts tomorrow as I thought I should of had some word from them as well.

Thanks again.

zzzLazyDaisy

Hi, for the moment I suggest that you do not reply to the solicitor's e-mail.

It doesn't really matter if you miss the deadline, since you can't afford to pay them what they are asking anyway.

The Tribunal should consider your ability to pay before making an award (the actual rules of procedure say that the tribunal 'may' have regard to a party's ability to pay - but the EAT has taken quite a robust approach on this issue.

Speak to the Tribunal first and find out what is going on.

Then come back, and if necessary I'll help with a letter.

D

claireloupul

Hi,

Just called the tribunal and it has been accepted for a hearing so I'm just waiting on a date.
I asked the question that when I realised I couldn't attend for work reasons. I emailed the ET and asked what my options were.
The next day they wrote to me saying if I would like to withdraw then I had to do so in writing so that's what I did.
He said because a hearing has been accepted I have to bring that up in the hearing.

Really not sure what to do.

Thanks

zzzLazyDaisy

claireloupul wrote: »

Really not sure what to do.

Thanks

Okay, you have two options:

1 pay the £3000 (or try and get ACAS to help you negotiate a lower settlement)

OR

2 Attend the hearing.

What you should not do is ignore the matter or let the hearing proceed and not turn up, because if you do not put your case to the tribunal, they will only have your employer's side of the story and may award costs in your absence.

If you can't/won't pay their costs I can help you to prepare a statement explaining what happened and also explaining your current financial situation (in your shoes I would not pay them a penny, and certainly not £3000, but that's just me and you must make your own decision).

D

claireloupul

I would be very happy for you to help me write a letter.
Thank you

zzzLazyDaisy

Okay, I will sort something out for you, but if you get a hearing date come back straight away.

In the meantime you need to send an urgent letter to the Tribunal telling them of any dates in the next three months when you would be unable to attend a tribunal hearing. It would look something like this (obviously the dates and reasons given below are just examples)

---

Dear Sirs

Case name and number

I understand that the Respondent's costs application is to be listed for hearing. In the circumstances I would be grateful if the tribunal would please note my unavailable dates as follows:

September: all dates unavailable owing to work commitments
October: 10th (hospital appointment)
November: 4th -16th (unable to get time off work owing to covering for colleagues annual leave
December: 27th - 31st (pre-booked holiday)

I respectfully request the tribunal to avoid the above dates when listing this matter for hearing.

Yours faithfully

NAME

---

claireloupul

Thank you,

Should I email the solicitors?