Support needed for my ET Claim - Disability Discrimination + Constructive Dismissal
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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!0 -
[*]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.....0 -
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 with0 -
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.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?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.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.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?How many hours each day do hearings normally last?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?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."MIND IF I USE YOUR PHONE? IF WORD GETS OUT THATI'M MISSING FIVE HUNDRED GIRLS WILL KILL THEMSELVES."0 -
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.I was a board guide here for many years, but have now resigned. Amicably, but I think it reflects very poorly on MSE that I have not even received an acknowledgement of my resignation! Poor show, MSE.
This signature was changed on 6.4.22. This is an experiment to see if anyone from MSE picks up on this comment.0 -
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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?Originally Posted by shortcrust
"Contact the Ministry of Fairness....If sufficient evidence of unfairness is discovered you’ll get an apology, a permanent contract with backdated benefits, a ‘Let’s Make it Fair!’ tshirt and mug, and those guilty of unfairness will be sent on a Fairness Awareness course."0 -
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.
- a respondent's witness
or - a current employee of the respondent
or - an ex employee of the respondent
or if there is no such official rule, then is this something a judge will frown upon?
Cheers0 - a respondent's witness
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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.0 -
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."MIND IF I USE YOUR PHONE? IF WORD GETS OUT THATI'M MISSING FIVE HUNDRED GIRLS WILL KILL THEMSELVES."0
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