2nd time taking employer to small claims

[haggismn]

Hi there,

I took my former employer to court in January last year, as stated here

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/employment-problems/174935-tribunal-withdrawn-now-going.html

 

Before then I had sent off a subject access request, specifically all of my contract documents, as these would prove my case. The company either never responded or seemed to pretend I didn't ask.

 

Since then I have received an admission that during the case stated above, they tried to look for all of my documents but they had all gone missing. - How convenient...

 

I also have been experiencing all of my letters from the place where I worked going missing. Because of this my communications are now exclusively with the head office and I have a letter from them claiming several letters have been sent from the other place, yet I never received anything. This started happening after I went to the place to show the deputy manager the problems with my wages and I had been seen by another manager who acted very strangely (January 2008 ). In these lost responses there would have likely been photocopies of documents like wage slips and P45. Can I pursue this matter of stolen letters in any way, or at least use this as evidence indicating the loss of my contract documents is not an accident?

 

Obviously this is unnacceptable. I just need confirmation that there would be no problem taking this company to court again over separate issues, in spite of the failure of the first case (due to the sheer stupidity of her majesty's legal system).

 

Furthermore, you might also be wondering why I don't have a copy of this contract myself. Well, again this company again broke the law (they do that quite a lot) by not providing me one when I started working here. Can I pursue this matter, along with the above, in the small claim also? It has not been pursued before either.

 

Thirdly, I know that there is an issue where the issue estoppel can be overlooked under certain conditions. Is it worth further pursuing this also, claiming that the deliberate loss of my documents justifies looking at this other case again?

 

Finally, If I were to pursue this, how much do I ask for??

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Edited February 13, 2010 by haggismn

[Bigredbus]

Hi there,

I took my former employer to court in January last year, as stated here

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/employment-problems/174935-tribunal-withdrawn-now-going.html

 

Before then I had sent off a subject access request, specifically all of my contract documents, as these would prove my case. The company either never responded or seemed to pretend I didn't ask.

 

Since then I have received an admission that during the case stated above, they tried to look for all of my documents but they had all gone missing. - How convenient...

 

I also have been experiencing all of my letters from the place where I worked going missing. Because of this my communications are now exclusively with the head office and I have a letter from them claiming several letters have been sent from the other place, yet I never received anything. This started happening after I went to the place to show the deputy manager the problems with my wages and I had been seen by another manager who acted very strangely (January 2008 ). In these lost responses there would have likely been photocopies of documents like wage slips and P45. Can I pursue this matter of stolen letters in any way, or at least use this as evidence indicating the loss of my contract documents is not an accident?

 

Obviously this is unnacceptable. I just need confirmation that there would be no problem taking this company to court again over separate issues, in spite of the failure of the first case (due to the sheer stupidity of her majesty's legal system).

 

Furthermore, you might also be wondering why I don't have a copy of this contract myself. Well, again this company again broke the law (they do that quite a lot) by not providing me one when I started working here. Can I pursue this matter, along with the above, in the small claim also? It has not been pursued before either.

 

Thirdly, I know that there is an issue where the issue estoppel can be overlooked under certain conditions. Is it worth further pursuing this also, claiming that the deliberate loss of my documents justifies looking at this other case again?

 

Finally, If I were to pursue this, how much do I ask for??

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

To start with, a statement of particulars of employment should have been given to to you within 2 months of starting employment with your firm.

 

Since 1st October 2004 changes to the previous rules have been made under Employment Act 2002. As from that date an employment tribunal normally has to award either 2 or 4 times a week's pay if an employer is "guilty" of a failure to provide written particulars of employment to an employee, but only if that "guilt" is established in the course of other proceedings before that tribunal.

[haggismn]

Ok, thanks for the response.

When I started work I was handed a general booklet which stated an out of date wage chart (Daytime pay, night shift add ons, Sunday add ons, etc) and also didn't specify my personal hours worked.

In January 2009 (at court) I was handed a shift rota which was completely wrong, claiming my contract was different to what I really worked. Of course, what is mentionned there applies only to employment tribunals. I can't go down that route. It must be in county court. Is this possible for these matters?

 

The issue estoppel against me prevents me from pursuing lost wages and also their failure to provide payslips. Therefore what I am asking really is;

Can I pursue the following? Are these matters irrelavent enough to the previous case which I am banned from pursuing?:

Failure to provide written particulars of contract.

Deliberate loss of subject documents, using the theft of letters before being posted as evidence.

and also;

Attempt to remove the issue estoppel banning me from pursuing the other case, due to the deliberate loss of documents giving the company an illegal advantage in the case.

 

There isn't any silly law banning me from taking any other action against the same company, that kind of thing? Also, is it ok to pursue all of this together as one small claim?

 

There is a separate issue which I will need to address. There is a former co-worker who would be of great aid as a witness, however I don't have his contact details. All I have is his name. How would I go about getting these? I do not wish to contact the company to retrieve them. I believe he still works for them, and if they found out he would be acting as a witness against them, I believe they would intimidate him in some way. If worst comes to worst, can I somehow force the company I am suing to provide me with this man's details?

 

Thanks again

Edited February 13, 2010 by haggismn

[Bigredbus]

Ok, thanks for the response.

When I started work I was handed a general booklet which stated an out of date wage chart (Daytime pay, night shift add ons, Sunday add ons, etc) and also didn't specify my personal hours worked.

In January 2009 (at court) I was handed a shift rota which was completely wrong, claiming my contract was different to what I really worked. Of course, what is mentionned there applies only to employment tribunals. I can't go down that route. It must be in county court. Is this possible for these matters?

 

The issue estoppel against me prevents me from pursuing lost wages and also their failure to provide payslips. Therefore what I am asking really is;

Can I pursue the following? Are these matters irrelavent enough to the previous case which I am banned from pursuing?:

Failure to provide written particulars of contract.Can be pursued in conjunction with a main case.

Deliberate loss of subject documents, using the theft of letters before being posted as evidence. I can see that as being raised with the Information Commissionner's Office

and also;

Attempt to remove the issue estoppel banning me from pursuing the other case, due to the deliberate loss of documents giving the company an illegal advantage in the case. Estoppels do not extinguish your rights. Contact a lawyer/solicitor for more details about estoppels.

There isn't any silly law banning me from taking any other action against the same company, that kind of thing?

 

There is a separate issue which I will need to address. There is a former co-worker who would be of great aid as a witness, however I don't have his contact details. All I have is his name. How would I go about getting these? I do not wish to contact the company to retrieve them. I believe he still works for them, and if they found out he would be acting as a witness against them, I believe they would intimidate him in some way. If worst comes to worst, can I somehow force the company I am suing to provide me with this man's details? You cannot 'force' the company to provide you with any private details related to employees, therefore they will not supply you with any information related to that specific person.

 

Thanks again

 

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