Medical Capability Dismissal

[JonCris]

Scarlet your circumstances appear complicated. I suggest you need to see an employment solicitor asap

[installspark]

eforegg - shame to see them attempting to stall proceedings again, to me it would seem a bit far fetched that a solicitor would not know that they would require your authority to disclose medical records.

 

On a different note, my employer is now attempting to go down the medical capability route.

[inline66]

eforegg

 

Have you considered or made any request for Tribunal Orders yet e.g. disclosure of documents

 

I suggest you get your requests in early.

[eforegg]

installspark - beggars belief. I guess you see the true worth of an employer in situations like this.

 

inline66 - I haven't made any Tribunal Orders yet. I was waiting for the CMD to be reconvened, where we could discuss a reasonable timescale for disclosure.

 

With regards the application for an extension, suprise, suprise it was granted. Weird thing is they asked for a 2 week extension and in the letter from the ET today they are giving them till 23rd June to comply, in essence 4 weeks. Not quite sure why they are getting extra time again. So from a CMD on the 28 April which was adjourned for 2 weeks to allow the respondent to get extra information, they will be getting until the 23 June 2008. Talk about blatant screwing the system!

Edited May 28, 2008 by eforegg

[JonCris]

The new date will to some extent be based on the ET's availability & not just their 2 week request

[eforegg]

I'm back again with an update.

 

Well what would you know once again, and using every last second of the tribunals time, I've had a copy email from my employers solicitor. After reviewing all the medical information supplied by occupational health they now accept I am covered under the terms of the disability discrimination act but are now looking for the tribunal to grant an order in terms of Schedule 1, Rule 10 (2) (q) of the Employment Tribunals Regulations 2004.

 

Would I be right in thinking this is a further delaying tactic?

 

This is my first experience of the whole Tribunal process but my over riding impression is if there's a way to abuse the process someone will find it.

 

I assume there no point in objecting to the granting of this order, as in essence they will be at least admitting I'm covered under the DDA now?

[JonCris]

They are seeking to amend their defence. It may be a part admission or some other piece of crap.

 

Just wait until you have it then post it here as you can object if you feel the info was or should have been available earlier had they acted with due diligence

[eforegg]

Thanks for the input JonCris. The tribunal process truly is a war of attrition.

Once they submit their amended defence, I will indeed post for comment.

[installspark]

I concur with JonCris.

 

On this occasion I believe that they are not deliberately attempting to prolong the process, and (unfortunately) are entitled to seek to change their response to your claim. This could be to your advantage, dependent on what their amendments are.

 

Due to their nature, tribunals can be a long drawn out process. Try not to let it get to you.

[MRDO]

Hi everyone. Sorry to hear of your situation eforegg. I am myself currently off work with depression, and have been so for about 3 months. This week I recieved a letter from my employer, informing me that, "...Owing to comments received from our medical officer, one of the avenues which may be explored could be the termination of your employment on ill health grounds...". I have a meeting at home on Monday about this with my boss, so it looks like I could well be heading down the same road as your on at present !! Anyway, continuing best of luck, and Ill come back and keep you informed.

Edited July 26, 2008 by MRDO
Typo

[Guest Old_andrew2018]

Hi MRDO

 

You Could start your own thread, I am sure you will receive support, together with some useful advice from members with expertise in HR.

Are you a member of a trade union, if so are they supporting you.

Regards

 

Andy

[eforegg]

Good luck tomorrow MRDO, I hope things work out well for you.

 

An update on my own case. A date for the second CMD has been set for 12 August (cant believe so little has changed since the last one in April, but thats the tribunal process I guess), so fingers crossed things can move on. From what's been mentioned in the letter from the ET, it certainly looks like a September/October tribunal date, fingers crossed that timetable is held to. On a positive note I start a new job on Tuesday, in a very similar environment to the job with my ex- employer.

[MRDO]

Thanks Eforegg for your support. However it seems that my employers had made up their mind before even arriving at my house on Monday and as such I was told they were terminating my contract on ill health grounds, as my continued absence was "unsustainable" by the business. Seeming as how I was employed by the largest coach and rail operator in Europe (I will leave the name for you to guess), I find it extremely difficult to beleive this. In the last 3 years I had had 2 periods of 6 months each away from work with the same illness, and basically although their medical officer reported that I would make a full recovery and be fit for work, he surmised that the chances of recurrence were quite high, and it is this comment that I beleive my employers have based their decision on. They have offered me almost £6000.00 in severance pay, half of which is subject to tax and NI. I will be appealing as soon as I receive my termination in writing, which no doubt will be turned down, so then it will be on to an ET for unfair dismissal and disability discrimination. I think I am still shocked at the fact that I have been dismissed after 9 years with the same company, and feel they could have done so much more to help in my case. Although I have posted this here I have also started a new thread so please feel free to leave your thoughts and comments. Eforegg I wish you the best of luck in your new job.

Edited July 30, 2008 by MRDO
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[JonCris]

Don't wait. Whilst your appealing see an employment lawyer & have your claim lodged with the ET NOW

[tiaposy]

MRDO - I read on the internet the other day that redundancy pay is not subject to Tax & NI unless it goes over £30,000, so I would check to make sure your ex employer knows this.

[emmaf01]

subscribing

[eforegg]

Well, settling into my new job now, so thought I'd post an update. Yesterday I got a letter from ET to say a date has been set aside. It's envisaged it'll be 3 days, 28th, 29th and 30th of October. Would love to think it'll be a happy Hallo'een but who knows.

 

I have a quick question which hopefully someone can advise. In the CMD my ex employers solicitor said they would be calling some witnesses. 3 of the witnesses my employer is using I think I would like to question. Would I have to state prior to the tribunal I would like them to appear for my side as well or could I use the fact they are there and introduce my questions in cross examination? I said I would only be asking 1 witness to attend. Would I write to all parties and formally give my intentions that I will also be asking these individuals to attend to question.

 

It probably sounds scarey I'm asking this question at this stage however I'm trying to get myself up to speed on the tribunal protocol etc.

Also a quick question for anyone who's familiar. I wasn;t expecting a 3 day hearing does your employer have to let you have the time off to attend or can they deny me it. Likewise is the comployee expected to use holidays or like jury duty is there a duty on the employer to give this time? I imagine not but thought I'd check with the people who know.

 

Any help would as usual be greatly appreciated.

[JonCris]

They should Identify the witnesses to you in their papers & yes you can question them when they appear. As they are witnesses for the opposition this helps as you can ask questions without being too friendly just don't overdo it.

 

Do you have an employment solicitor? If not I'm surprised you have not yet been approached as they watch the lists & offer their services to those claimants without legal representation

[eforegg]

Thanks JonCris.

 

So just to clarify, I have carte blanche in terms of questioning (within reason) and can lead the questioning in a different path from the respondents solicitors questioning.

 

I have specific questions I want to ask one particular witness relating to my dismissal and think rather than risk him not showing up may be worth while adding him to my list.

 

I dont have a solicitor and no-one has approached me. The dates just been announced maybe it's not been picked up as yet.

[emmaf01]

I would suggest professional legal help would be a must.

[JonCris]

Where in the country do you live N S E W??

[eforegg]

Central Scotland

[letshelp]

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[Musey]

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[eforegg]

Hi I'm needing a bit of help from someone with a bit of experience working out schedule of losses. I'm struggling to put a figure for pension loss. The problem is my old employer (the respondent) ran a non contributory final salary pension scheme (I'm sure its a 1/60th scheme, if its any help)

 

My new employer runs a voluntary contributory money purchase scheme. They'll match whatever I pay up to a maximum of 5%.

 

I'm not sure how to calculate the monetary loss on my schedule. Incidently I was 39.5 at time of dismissal, normal retiral date is 60 under the previous scheme.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated, as the loss here is substantial but how do I realistically calculate the loss?