Procedure - Claim - Whether judge having power to make order

Fairbank v Care Management Group and another case: Employment Appeal Tribunal (Mr Justice Slade): 20 March 2012

The employees each commenced proceedings against their respective employers. Both employees were represented by the same solicitors who drafted the claim forms. Each claim form was extremely lengthy. An employment judge, in each case, ordered that the employees refine their claim form to a concise statement of no more than one side of A4 paper. The employees appealed to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT).

The employees submitted that the judge had had no power to curtail a claim made in a claim form and that the orders in the instant cases had been contrary to the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2004, SI 2004/1861. The appeal would be allowed.

It was established law that it was for an employee to decide which claims he or she wished to advance before an employment tribunal. It was not for the EAT to be prescriptive as to how an employment tribunal claim was to be framed (see [13] of the judgment). In the instant case, there had been no power to make the orders appealed. In such cases the proper approach was to address such claims at a case management discussion (see [18], [19] of the judgment).

Chapman v Simon [1994] IRLR 124 considered; Hendricks v Metropolitan Police Comr [2003] 1 All ER 654 considered; Franco v Bowling & Co Solicitors [2010] All ER (D) 16 (Feb) considered; St Christopher's Fellowship v Walters-Ennis [2010] All ER (D) 03 (Aug) considered; McKinson v Hackney Community College [2012] All ER (D) 128 (Jan) considered.

Daniel Matovu (instructed by Martin Searle Solicitors, Brighton) for the employees; The employers were not represented and did not appear.