A national firm that ignored a hearing for an employment claim from a former director has been given another chance. Default judgment was given against Duncan Lewis Solicitors Limited following the firm’s failure to attend a preliminary hearing last November.
A claim for unfair dismissal and discrimination had been made by Chinedu Orogbu, a former director of the firm who was dismissed in 2020.
The firm said there had been a ‘breakdown in internal communication’ which meant that correspondence was missed, and it asked the East London tribunal to revoke the default judgment.
Employment Judge Burgher said that the ‘balance of prejudice’ favoured the firm to allow an extension of time to respond to the claim, although he ordered that Duncan Lewis meet the £6,500 costs incurred.
The tribunal heard that the claim was presented in April last year, around the time that the firm moved its offices and arranged a mail redirect.
The tribunal wrote to the firm saying it had until 25 May to respond to the claim, but nothing was submitted. The hearing date was then missed before Duncan Lewis applied to extend time and set aside the default judgment.
David Head, director of the firm’s risk and compliance department, accepted that two tribunal letters were received and forwarded to his email address. Personal and professional commitments meant that correspondence was not being actioned to the right people, and the firm said it had updated its systems to ensure mail is sent digitally to at least two directors.
Orogbu argued the firm did not provide a satisfactory explanation for the default judgment and that this was a series of avoidable and negligent failures rather than an accidental oversight. He said that his health could be affected if the default judgment was lifted.
The firm submitted that a default judgment of this nature would undermine its reputation and that it had good prospects of defending the claim.
