Employment Tribunal - you CAN win !!!

[TheCoolerKing]

Glad I found this site, I was beginning to think I was on my own. I'm half way through a Tribunal hearing for what appeared to be a straight forward case of my employer fabricating evidence to justify them dismissing me for Gross Misconduct. I wont go into the details yet, but basically I am representing myself and have produced lots of evidence to dispute the employer and their witnesses credibility. All my colleagues & friends thought it would be a straight forward case because the evidence is black & white. But none of us counted on a totally bent Employment Tribunal Judge. Not only have they helped the respondents witnesses answer questions while I was cross examining them!, but the Judge also is quite clearly allowing the respondents highly paid solicitor loads of leaway, whilst giving me (an unrepresented layperson) no help/advice whatsoever. The Judges that spoke to me during the two CMD's were very helpful, but the Judge at my hearing is totally bias, and the 2 lay assistants dont say a word. It seems that other people on this site have had this problem. I was thinking about lodging an appeal, but whose to say the next Judge wont be bias aswell. Any comments/suggestions much appreciated, but I think its a no-hoper. They say "Honesty Pays", but I think "Money Talks" is more appropriate when it comes to the Employment Tribunal system.

[mortlake]

Are his initials G-Z and is he on the South London circuit?

My guess is that society generally, and government courtiers in particular, are getting more snobby and less interested in equality before the law.

Options:

• Appeal. But my judge was careful to cover his tracks, making it look as though most of the claim was out of time and not letting me know what was going-on until he made his judgement. You could check your judge's name for previous appeals against his judgements on BAILII - United Kingdom Employment Appeal Tribunal (easiest) Employment Appeal Tribunal > Search Judgments (most up to date). If your case is finished and you are wondering whether to appeal, it might look a stronger case if your judge has had his judgements overturned for the same reason before. And if you're still at the first hearing, the judge might give more time to issues where he's scared of a second appeal being made against his judgement for the same reason as before.
• Sanity check your case with Which legal services, who are only £12 a quarter and will discuss a case from before you joined-up. They might help find the wood for the trees and help you rehearse an argument a bit. Also sanity check grounds for appeal and whether there's much chance of costs against.

• It sounds like there's no time left and the hearing is over, but if not there might be a no-win no-fee employment lawyer close to the tribunal who is willing to sit-in with you and discuss your case in the waiting room, giving advice as you go but letting you do the talking in the tribunal. The lawyer can then claim standard extra fees from the other side if you win and has only lost a day or so if you loose. And the judge might not take advantage so much if there is a witness. I don't know if this is common but have heard of trades union lawyers doing-it. If a lawyer can't come then any witness might make the judge less willing to cut corners.

• If you can't appeal, complain to the regional chairman perhaps getting an MP to forward a letter. I got an extremely rude response from the man but a very careful and detailed response from the judge himself, so it shook them up a bit. There was even some attempt at giving me a time limit to go to the government's new quango for dealing with judges who do strange things - sorry I forget what it's called.

Would be interested to read how it went. Some employers have got nothing better to do than plot constuctive dismissals. The last thing anyone wants next is a judge who doesn't believe they exist and has probably never done an ordinary job in his life.

Good luck!
John ( j o h n a t e m p l o y e e s o r g u k )

[TheCoolerKing]

Cheers Mortlake,
Thanks very much for your suggestions, I will definately look into them.
No it isnt G Z, or on South London circuit. There are obviously more bias ET judges around than I thought.

Yes it is one hell of a blow when honest & decent people are bullied & treated unfairly by big-bucks employers who know that they can get away with dismissing people when & how they want, then the ET judge is blatantly bias. Especially when one of the employers witnesses is named as a lay member on Employment Tribunals! Talk about an old boys school or what!

[TheCoolerKing]

I was unfairly dismissed on multiple counts of Gross Misconduct over 12 months ago. I represented myself, and I won on all counts, 100% unanimous decision in my favour with zero contribution. It has been a long long, emotional, depressing, exhausting and financial nightmare, but I'm glad I stuck it out. I knew from the start that the company were trying to get me out, and they had a high paid lawyer threatening & intimidating me throughout the whole process. But in the end justice prevailed.
For anyone out there who is going through it - it gets very very tough, but if you know you are innocent, try & stick it out because in the end its worth it.
I hope I never have to go through that again, but if I do, I know that the multi-million pound companies will lie & cheat through the whole process; but in my case, the employment judge saw through their lies.

[questioning]

well done,
Its good to hear.


I've just had a glance at your posts, from what I can gather it sounds a nightmare, very well done again.

[TheCoolerKing]

Cheers Questioning, much appreciated.

Yes it has been 12 months of an absolute nightmare, but at last the hardest bit is over.
Now I've got to try and get the money out of him.
Despite him being named in the Richest people list I am sure he will do everything to avoid paying me what I am rightly due.

The most important thing is that I have cleared my name, and people working for him will now see what type of person he is & what lengths he is prepared to go to get someone out of his company.

I must say that the Judge soon changed their attitude to the case when I read my statement out, and presented evidence of how the boss had bullied & intimidated me. Summoning up the Tribunal slated the way the employer had behaved towards me.

I hope my experience will show people on here that despite all the hassle & depression, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

As Steve McQueen once said - "If I believe in something - I'll fight like hell for it".

[cutiepie22]

This is great news! I am going through a similar experience so good to hear there is light!

Can I pm u later?

[TheCoolerKing]

Originally Posted by cutiepie22

This is great news! I am going through a similar experience so good to hear there is light!

Can I pm u later?

Hi Cutiepie,
Sorry to hear that you are going through a similar experience.
I know how tough it can be.
By all means pm me if I can be of any help.

When I first started it all I purchased a book called "Employment Tribunals: Tactics & Precedents" by Naomi Cunningham - it was a really big help.
If you Google it the first chapter is shown free on-line.
I got mine from local Law book shop Butterworths, it cost £30 which is a huge amount when your unemployed, but it was worth every penny.
On line there is also a blog linked to this book which gives brilliant tips for fighting your case.

[almond]

Originally Posted by TheCoolerKing

Hi Cutiepie,
Sorry to hear that you are going through a similar experience.
I know how tough it can be.
By all means pm me if I can be of any help.

When I first started it all I purchased a book called "Employment Tribunals: Tactics & Precedents" by Naomi Cunningham - it was a really big help.
If you Google it the first chapter is shown free on-line.
I got mine from local Law book shop Butterworths, it cost £30 which is a huge amount when your unemployed, but it was worth every penny.
On line there is also a blog linked to this book which gives brilliant tips for fighting your case.

hi
using the same book a great read and very useful, i go mine of ebay
for about £15.

[sinussoother]

I think I should take a look at it, even though I am fortunate to be represented in my case.

Thanks for the tip!