Support needed for my ET Claim - Disability Discrimination + Constructive Dismissal

Undervalued

Sangie has given an excellent response to your seven questions.

I would just like to amplify two of them.....

2.In certain situations when examined in court would it be damaging to my case to say that at a specific point in time I wasn't aware that the conditions I have amount to a disability?Or at a later stage I wasn't aware that I have a right to reasonable adjustments? Because when the events were unfolding I had to research my rights and at that time I realised I have disabilities and rights for reasonable adjustments? For example if the respondent asks me why I have brought to their attention the fact that I have disabilities or I require adjustments at a much later date.

If telling the truth is damaging to your case then maybe you don't have case or at least is is not as strong as you would like to think! This is one of the problems with being a litigant in person. You may well feel that you have been treated unfairly and maybe the "man in the street" would agree. But was it legally unfair? Ultimately you must tell the truth.

7. Respondent sent me a "final" offer and tried to scare me by saying that should I loose or should I win less than the offer they will apply for a cost order for their expenses in the region of £45000. Are they allowed to do that? Should I inform the tribunal as this affects me? Is this likely to happen?

Again, this is the problem with being on your own. Do you have any expert assessment of their offer to settle? Maybe it is derisory and your claim is worth far more? Or perhaps not? Has any qualified person given you an idea of what you could realistically expect to be awarded assuming you win? As Sangie has said, whilst cost orders are still fairly rare they can and do happen. Normally you would get a pretty clear hint from the judge if there was a danger of this. However take care that you listen to exactly what he says, not just what you want to hear!

getmore4less

CYPER wrote: »

[*]In certain situations when examined in court would it be damaging to my case to say that at a specific point in time I wasn't aware that the conditions I have amount to a disability?Or at a later stage I wasn't aware that I have a right to reasonable adjustments? Because when the events were unfolding I had to research my rights and at that time I realised I have disabilities and rights for reasonable adjustments? For example if the respondent asks me why I have brought to their attention the fact that I have disabilities or I require adjustments at a much later date.

Thank you.

now I am no expert but picking up on this point.

I suspect that trying to claim that actions by the employer before you or they were aware that you had a protected characteristic were discriminatory might be a tough one.

Actions may have been wrong for other reason but proving they were discrimination is that even possible when know one was aware of the condition.

Perhaps employers have an obligation to anticipate protected characteristics.

eg if someone is of sick a lot are they obliged to pre consider it could be protected.

eg if someone seems a bit rubbish at their job as always tired in the afternoon and make mistakes.....

jessex1990

So they have upped their offer 400% and you have no legal representative and by sounds of things no idea of the procedure whereas they have got professional representation and are applying for you to pay their costs?

If it's more than you made in a month then I would probably take their offer, you need to get your case checked over by a professional or at the CAB before you make any decisions on whether to settle or go ahead into something you are inexperienced with

Crazy_Jamie

As Undervalued has said, sangie has given you nearly all of the information that you need to know. I just want to give the odd thought on them.

CYPER wrote: »

I have a list of cases, which I believe help mine - Case Law. Do I include these in the bundle or leave it for the witness statement, thus leave as little time to the respondent as possible to review them?

You don't do either. Bring copies of the judgments with you to hand separately to the Judge and your opponent. It's perfectly normal to exchange authorities on the morning of a trial. As sangie has said, chances are your opponent is aware of them anyway.

In certain situations when examined in court would it be damaging to my case to say that at a specific point in time I wasn't aware that the conditions I have amount to a disability?Or at a later stage I wasn't aware that I have a right to reasonable adjustments? Because when the events were unfolding I had to research my rights and at that time I realised I have disabilities and rights for reasonable adjustments? For example if the respondent asks me why I have brought to their attention the fact that I have disabilities or I require adjustments at a much later date.

See sangie's answer on this.

Is the witness statement just a narrative, a story? Are there any strict rules on how it needs to be written, what information it can include and what time period it can cover? Mine starts from when I was young to explain the origin of my conditions.

Again, you have your answer already, and I will say that the link provided by sangie in the second post is excellent and lays out exactly how a witness statement should be.

As a litigant in person I have zero experience in attending a hearing and mine spans many days, so naturally I would have many questions along the way. Would it be appropriate to politely interrupt the judge while he is talking to clarify something or do I need to write it down and ask when he is finished? Do I raise my hand to ask or what?

In addition to what sangie has said, it is worth noting that the Judge will probably ask you at appropriate points whether you have any questions, albeit they will only be able to help you on procedural issues.

How many hours each day do hearings normally last?

The only point to add is that sangie's timing of 9am until 4pm is for the first day, when it is a good idea to get to the Tribunal early. In subsequent days the trial will probably start at 10am so you don't need to be there as early. There will be a break for lunch around 1pm for about an hour, and there will be other breaks of 5 or 10 minutes here and there just as comfort breaks (usually one or two each side of lunch). You may find that evidence goes on until 4.30pm or later, or indeed finishes a little earlier if there is a natural point to stop. There is usually some flexibility as to the times each day.

As far as I am aware the witness statements are read first and then cross examinations start where I am being questioned by the respondent and then I question their witnesses. Is this correct?

Witness statements are no longer read, and whilst sangie has mentioned opening arguments that is more of a county court thing than an employment tribunal thing. Usually the process is for the parties to be called in at the start of the first day, and for the Judge to go through the issues in the case and any housekeeping matters (meaning any last minute issues to deal with). The Judge (or, in your case, panel) will then retire to read the witness statements and relevant documents. Evidence is then heard. The party that goes first is usually determined by the type of claim. If your claim is for constructive dismissal you will probably give evidence first. To give evidence you swear an oath, give your name, confirm that your statement is true, and then are cross examined. When all witnesses have given evidence both parties then give closing submissions. If you give evidence first the other side will make submissions first, followed by you. The panel will then retire to deliberate and come to a decision.

Respondent sent me a "final" offer and tried to scare me by saying that should I loose or should I win less than the offer they will apply for a cost order for their expenses in the region of £45000. Are they allowed to do that? Should I inform the tribunal as this affects me? Is this likely to happen?

Thank you.

These sorts of letter are very common nowadays, but are largely scaremongering. Unlikely the county court, you cannot have a costs order made against you in the Tribunal simply because you failed to beat an offer made by the other side. It takes much more than that. It is fair for sangie to warn you that it does happen, but there usually has to be something more for an order to be made, such as clearly unreasonable or vexatious conduct. Generally speaking costs orders are still unusual.

jobbingmusician

Two bits of input from me, as a non-expert.

1. I would support the view that 'statements' from the employer that they will pursue costs are common. Simply from reading this board. My understanding is, though, that although award of costs is increasing, it is still very unusual and applies almost solely when the case is believed to be vexatious or frivolous.

2. Once upon a time, a long time ago, I started a thread on this board about how to prepare for an ET. It is mostly out of date, but it might be worth reading - in particular I wonder if you have a time line as part of your bundle. If not, it might be useful to prepare one.

sangie595

jondav wrote: »

Agree with both of these points.

Be very careful what information you both give out and take from this board.

Since you have such a low opinion of the board, why are you here at all? Do you have anything constructive, or would you simply prefer to criticise?

nicechap

jondav wrote: »

What do you think gives you the right to question why I am here? Absolutely none of your business.

Maybe just getting your post count up?

CYPER

A random question: is there a rule that prohibits a claimant to directly contact any of the people below if he believes said person can provide information that will help him write a factually true witness statement.

1. a respondent's witness
   or
2. a current employee of the respondent
   or
3. an ex employee of the respondent

or if there is no such official rule, then is this something a judge will frown upon?

Cheers

sangie595

It is your witness statement, not someone else's. There is nobody else who witnessed what you witnessed - every person sees the same thing differently, and only you witnessed things in the way that you witnesses them! So you do not contact anyone else for information that you need for your witness statement.

And seriously - yes, the judge is going to take a seriously poor view of witness tampering!!! If someone saw or knows something that is of use to your case, they are one of your witnesses, and you have them preparing witness statements of their own. At best, third hand information (what you say someone else saw) is not accepted - if the court finds that you have contacted the respondents witnesses outside of the process they could accuse you of harassment or threats.

If someone witnessed something, then you ask them to be a witness (which means they must attend the tribunal and give a statement). If they won't do that, then you don't have any acceptable information from them. And you never contact the other sides witnesses.

If you think someone can provide useful information but won't turn up or agree to be a witness, you can ask for then to be forced to attend - but that is a desperate strategy that almost always backfires. People who are compelled to attend rarely tell the truth. If they were willing to do so you generally wouldn't need to compel them.

Crazy_Jamie

It is important to echo sangie's point here. Nobody can help you to write your witness statement by providing information, because it is by default your recollection and no one else's. You can refer to documents and use those to aid your memory, but referring to or using other people's recollections is a bad idea and will almost certainly undermine your evidence.