Industrial Tribunals Northern Ireland Decisions

FAIR EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNAL

 

CASE REFS: 7/15FET

201/15

 

 

 

CLAIMANT:                John Francis Forrest      

 

 

RESPONDENT:        Laverty Properties Limited

 

 

 

DECISION ON A REVIEW

 

(1)          The decision of the tribunal is set out at paragraph 1(iii) below.

 

(2)          Case management directions to progress the matter to hearing are also given.

 

 

Constitution of Tribunal:

 

 

Employment Judge (sitting alone):                   Employment Judge Buchanan 

 

 

Appearances:

 

Mr R Cushley, Barrister-at-Law, instructed by Stelfox Solicitors, for the claimant.

 

Mr B Mulqueen, Barrister-at-Law, instructed by Cleaver Fulton Rankin Solicitors, for the respondent company.

 

 

1.         (i)         By a decision dated 8 January 2016 and issued on 11 January 2016 I struck out the respondent company’s response for failure to comply with an Unless Order.

 

            (ii)        It is now accepted by the claimant’s solicitors that there had in fact been compliance with the Unless Order.

 

            (iii)       I revoke the decision made on 8 January 2016.  The claimant’s solicitors consent to this course of action, which is clearly in the interests of justice.

 

            (iv)       Case Management Directions are now set out in the succeeding paragraphs.

 

 

 

Orders

 

In accordance with Rule 9(1) of the Fair Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure 2005, I make the following orders, by consent:-

 

2.         Issues

 

            A statement of legal and factual issues will be lodged by 4 April 2016.

 

3.         Discovery/Additional Information

 

The respondent company is ordered to serve any Notices for Discovery and/or Additional Information by 23 March 2016, and the claimant will reply by 13 April 2016.

 

4.         Preliminary Issues

 

            There are no issues requiring a separate Pre Hearing Review.

 

5.         Witness Statements

 

(a)       The claimant and any witness he wishes to call must provide signed and dated witness statements to the respondent’s representative by 5.00 pm on 4 May 2016.

 

(b)       The respondent and any witness it wishes to call must provide signed and dated witness statements to the claimant’s representative by 31 May 2016.

 

(c)       Oral evidence or written supplementary witness statements in response to the respondent’s(s’) witness statements will only be permitted with leave of the Tribunal where good reason is shown. 

 

(d)       A witness statement must be a complete statement of the evidence relating to the issues, in respect of both liability and remedy, in the case, that the witness wishes to give to the Tribunal.  Witness statements must not contain the parties’ submissions or arguments.  The parties will be given the opportunity to make submissions at the conclusion of the evidence.  A witness will not be permitted to add to his/her statement without the consent of the Tribunal.  Consent will only be given where there is good reason for doing so.

 

            Witness statements should commence with an introductory paragraph which identifies the witness and explains the relevance of the witness to the claim, eg claimant, line manager, member of interview panel, etc.

 

            The statement should then use the factual issues agreed at Paragraph A above and set out the witnesses’ evidence, if any, in relation to each factual issue chronologically.  The claimant’s witness statement should also include his/her evidence to support any claim for injury to feelings and/or financial loss.  It should also include his/her evidence of all steps taken to obtain alternative employment. The witness statement should finish with a short summary paragraph.

 

            Witness statements may not exceed 5,000 words unless otherwise directed by the Tribunal.

 

(e)       Any documents referred to in the witness statements must be identified by the relevant page number in the bundle.

 

(f)        Witness statements will not be read aloud to the Tribunal, subject to the discretion of the Tribunal hearing the case.

 

(g)       Witness statements will be read by the Tribunal prior to the commencement of the hearing which will then proceed by way of cross-examination.

 

6.         Schedule of Loss 

 

The claimant must provide to the respondent’s representative a schedule of all financial loss claimed by the claimant, setting out in particular the nature and amount of any such loss claimed and how that sum is made up, by 5.00 pm on 4 May 2016.

 

7.         Bundles

 

The parties are ordered to liaise and prepare an agreed and paginated bundle of documents, four copies of which must be lodged in the Office of the Tribunals by 10 June 2016 along with four copies of a further folder containing witness statements:-

 

(a)       the bundle must contain only those documents which are necessary for the Tribunal to hear and determine the claim.  The bundle is not meant to contain all documentation which has been disclosed between the parties, documents should appear only once in the bundle;

 

(b)       the bundle must contain all documents relating to financial loss including all documents relating to the steps taken by the claimant to obtain alternative employment.

 

(c)       the bundle must contain a detailed index and each page in the bundle must be clearly and consecutively numbered;

 

(d)       each document must appear in chronological sequence;

 

(e)       the bundle may not, without the consent of the Tribunal, contain more than 200 pages.

           

8.         Date of Hearing

 

            The hearing will be from 13-17 June 2016.

 

The Tribunal will read the witness statements between10.00 am and 1.30 pm on the first day of hearing and the substantive hearing will commence immediately thereafter.  Parties and witnesses must be in attendance at that point.

 

 

8.         Timetable

 

The parties should liaise and try to agree a timetable to ensure that the cross-examination of witnesses and closing submissions are completed within the allocated time.  If the parties are unable to do so the Employment Judge will set the timetable with the parties at the outset of the Hearing. 

 

Parties and their representatives should note that if any matters arise which require a further direction or order by the Tribunal, they should immediately notify the Office of the Tribunals of that matter so that a Case Management Discussion can be arranged promptly. 

 

 

 

 

Employment Judge:      

 

Date:             March 2016

 

 

 

Notice

 

 

1.         If any party fails and/or is unable to comply with any of the above Orders, any application arising out of such failure or inability to comply must be made promptly to the Tribunal and in accordance with the Fair Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure 2005.

 

2.         Failure to comply with any of these Orders may result in a Costs Order or a Preparation Time Order or a Wasted Costs Order or an Order that the whole or part of the claim, or as the case may be, the response may be struck out and, where appropriate, the respondent may be debarred from responding to the claim altogether.

 

3.         Under Article 84(9) and (10) of the Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998, any person who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with a requirement imposed under Rule 9(2)(d) of the Fair Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure 2005 to grant discovery and inspection of documents shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding Level 5 on the standard scale - £5,000 at 3 September 2007, but subject to alteration from time to time; and if, without reasonable excuse, the failure continues after conviction, shall be liable on a second or subsequent conviction to a fine not exceeding one tenth of Level 5 on standard scale – £500, but subject to alteration from time to time – for each day on which the failure continues.

 

4.         A party may apply to the Tribunal to vary or revoke any of the above Orders in accordance with the Fair Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure 2005.