Seeking help and advice for a friend....

[moving on..]

Good Afternoon,

I am posting this for a friend who does not have access to a pc and would really appreciate some advice....I will try and put the situation' in a nutshell!!'
My friend attended an Industrial Tribunal for unfair dismissal in March 2007, and this was settled out of court. There is a clause in the settlement document stating that it was a full and final settlement .Now , my friend still does not feel his solicitor addressed certain issues at the time that concerned him i.e constructive dismissal, victimisation, Racial Discrimination,malicious mis-management, and breach of duty of care.
I have been witness to the enormous strain this whole episode has put my friend under and so would really like to help him move forward to either resolve the points above or help him put the whole affair behind him. His questions are ;would he be able to take further action regards to the points above? and is there a time frame to do this within from the date of the original tribunal?
Thanks for any help
kind regards
moving on

[xxmissxx]

Im not entirely sure, but i think that if it was already settled out of court, if a settlement document has been signed already by both your friend and the respondent, then i dont think theres much else you can do. I would definatly check with a solicitor though, just incase im wrong.

[paulgmb]

Hi,

the tribunal award would have been in full and final settlement of that particular claim so if you did not claim for any of the above, in theory you could still claim for other things. The exception to this would be if your friend had signed a compromise agreement.

I think you may be out of time though, but sure others will advise. Why didn't your friend claim for the other isssues at the time?

Regards,

Paul.

[moving on..]

Hello,

Thank you so much for your help so far,I have just sent a text to my friend(..downside of posting on behalf of someone else!),, and have asked him to check the wording of the settlement document.

As far as not claiming for the other issues at the time, this was a man under considerable strain...he had been off work for two years on full pay 'isolationary management games' he called it, causing depression, insomnia, and when push came to shove the combination of what he refers to as malicious mis-management, and a relatively inexperienced Solicitor, he 'cracked', and settled as he was 'advised' at the time.

From a friends point of view (me)!...If I could only describe how low I saw a fellow human being get in life, I would, but I just cannot put it into words, suffice to say a year later,it is still upper most in his mind and what he talks about....I just hope he can resolve the issues and understand what his options might be and move on with them and in turn the rest of his life.
Thanks once again, and I will post as soon as he replies, probably tomorrow now.
kind regards
moving on....

[moving on..]

Good Morning,

It appears my friend did sign a Compromise agreement. Does that mean all avenues are now closed?

many thanks
jane

[bed32]

Having signed a compromise agreement makes things harder but does not necessarily close all avenues. I believe the wording of the document itself becomes important.

My understanding is that a compromise agreement can resolve all contractual claims and statutory claims provided that they are detailed in the agreement (e.g. the sections of the statutes under which a claim may be brought are listed). Without that there have been cases where people have been permitted to bring a claim even after a compromise agreement has been signed.

However the question in this case is not so much whether there are other claims, but whether they have any monetary value. If he settled for a fair amount for the dismissal under all circumstances then even if there were other points that might have been raised then that would not affect the value of the claim.

It is only if an whole aspect of the claim was missed (e.g. pre-termination detriment, injury to feelings and so on) that there is additional value in the claim

[paulgmb]

It is rare to sign a compromise agreement after the tribunal has made an award unless both parties were still talking and agreed on the compromise agreement before the tribunal made the award?

You would have to check the wording of the said agreement to see if it covers the complaints your friend wishes to pursue.