is this unfair?

[surreyguy]

To all the "new" followers , thank you ever so much !!

 

To know we hav support from people other than the "regular" followers is totally amazing!!!

 

You lot are great lol.

 

To all the "regulars" i just cant thank you enough !

 

Since the first day i posted on here , the support has been heart warming and i hope someday i can offer the same level of support to others.

 

Thanks again to YOU ALL .

 

Guy

[Bigredbus]

You, and Mrs 'surreyguy', take great care...

[gadgetgirl79]

I've been following this too!

 

I have no helpful advice, but hope it all works out really well for you in the company.

 

I work for a company who condone bullying, and side with managers even during grievances, so I wish you all the best in getting justice!

[surreyguy]

I've been following this too!

 

I have no helpful advice, but hope it all works out really well for you in the company.

 

I work for a company who condone bullying, and side with managers even during grievances, so I wish you all the best in getting justice!

 

 

Thank Gadgetgirl79.

 

You know, everytime i see a new poster to this thread it just fills me full of hope . To know that people are on our side routing for us makes the fight more worthwhile.

 

To all the posters and followers.

 

We have a cmd planned and have been told by the tribunal office that in preparation for this mmeting , we must exchange all discoverable documents . We requested loads of documents from the other side , all of which bear relevance to the case but their solicitor REFUSES to comply!

 

He states that the documents i refer to have no relevance to the case.....i asked for the cctv footage showing the time frame of the 2 test collectors being outside the room.....this would have been interesting to watch as now that we have proved a switch occured id like to see if it was deliberate or accidental . Suppose it doesnt really matter anyhow owing the fact that it has been wiped over !!

 

Makes me mad ! Its been proven that a switch happened , yet the employer STILL says my poor girlfriend was sacked fairly!

 

I do not agree :

 

There was no investigation even though they KNEW we disputed the results.

 

They sent the letter to my girlfriend telling her that the results had been returned from the lab as a definative positive.....ONE DAY BEFORE THE LAB HAD EVEN INFORMED THEM THAT THE RESULTS WERE POSITIVE??

 

They call my girlfriend to a disciplinary meeting with less than 24hrs notice.

 

They hold the disciplinary meeting and refuse to allow my girlfriend to SPEAK during the meeting.

 

They make the decision to dismiss my girlfriend even before they hold the disciplinary meeting.

 

The chain of custody is hindered owing to the collection agent leaving the room.

 

My girlfriend then provides them with a drug free report from our Gp...

 

Honestly , i could go on and on listing their faults and still they say we are fighting a loosing battle ????

 

Yeah right , guess we'll see lol

 

 

Guy

[robbond55]

Hi there.

Just got reading this from start to finish tonight and it beggars belief!

I am wondering if just before the case is due to be heard the employers will come up withsome sort of offer?

I have been to a tribunal with my wife and the employment judges that I dealt with seem interested only in facts, compliance and fairness all three of which you appear to have in abundance on your side.

I feel that, in my unrained point of view and just going on experience,the case that you made as in full chronological order with all the details of the mishaps will leave the employers no leg to stand on.

However, if they did have a leg to stand on it would probably be switched for the wrong one when the judge left the room!

However, I wish you all the best and like you say behind all the negativity that you have been through take faith in the fact that we are all surrounded by a lot of good people, most of whom seem to take residence here!

[surreyguy]

Hi Robbond55 .

 

Cheers for the post mate . Everytime i see another poster join in i get such a sense of gratitude.

 

Im feeling confident that what you said about the ex employer making a last minute offer could be very close to the truth .

 

Do you mind me asking about your wife's case ? Did she win ? Did you have legal representation?

 

Thanks again

 

Guy

[robbond55]

To be honest surreyguy, don't relate my experience to yours - they are completely different.

My wife worked for someone, left and did not get a P60, no P45, no payslips when she worked there.

There was no record of her with the Inland Revenue so tax deductions had not been given to the tax office.

She did not respond, we won by default, yet now as we are trying to enforce the payment that we won at the tribunal she suddenly has decided to respond to the court as we started enforcement proceedings.

Needless to say we are waiting to hear if her arguments are accepted by the court as we have submitted a rejection to her offer of payment and have torn every argument of hers apart.

However, I came away from the tribunal with the belief that if you are in the right, you are calm, prepared and just give the facts you should be fine and thats what I would like to think for you and your girlfriend should it ever get that far.

[surreyguy]

To be honest surreyguy, don't relate my experience to yours - they are completely different.

My wife worked for someone, left and did not get a P60, no P45, no payslips when she worked there.

There was no record of her with the Inland Revenue so tax deductions had not been given to the tax office.

She did not respond, we won by default, yet now as we are trying to enforce the payment that we won at the tribunal she suddenly has decided to respond to the court as we started enforcement proceedings.

Needless to say we are waiting to hear if her arguments are accepted by the court as we have submitted a rejection to her offer of payment and have torn every argument of hers apart.

However, I came away from the tribunal with the belief that if you are in the right, you are calm, prepared and just give the facts you should be fine and thats what I would like to think for you and your girlfriend should it ever get that far.

 

Thanks for that Robbond , im hoping we dont have to go as far as the full hearing .

 

thanks again

 

Guy

[robbond55]

Bear this in mind:

You have done nothing wrong and neither has your girlfriend and if it goes to tribunal and she is very nervous then the Judge will understand especially if she says so and will generally let you or someone else speak on their behalf. That is what happened in my wifes case - we went in prepared with the facts, I did most of the talking on behalf of my wife.

Believe me they have seen it all before.

[surreyguy]

Bear this in mind:

You have done nothing wrong and neither has your girlfriend and if it goes to tribunal and she is very nervous then the Judge will understand especially if she says so and will generally let you or someone else speak on their behalf. That is what happened in my wifes case - we went in prepared with the facts, I did most of the talking on behalf of my wife.

Believe me they have seen it all before.

 

 

Thanks for that info Robbond55 , thats actually very good to know.

 

You say that you did most of the talking for your wife . Surely during cross examination your wife had to answer the questions herself?

 

My girlfriends not looking forward to that bit at all ! The respondent has legal representation whereas we at present do not. Unfortunately we are not entitled to any help with legal costs and are unable to afford to pay it ourselves.

 

Thanks again

 

Guy

[robbond55]

To be honest there was no real cross examinationas we won by default as the other party did not attend.

Even though they have legal representation I feel that the facts speak for themselves and that anyemployment judge should see that.

[robbond55]

By the way, one tip that I found may benefit you greatly is to go down to your local tribunal service and ask to sit in on a Employment Tribunal.

They are open to the public to witness and it will give you a good idea of what to expect.

I went down for a case that lasted the morning and they had a recess for lunch and delivered the verdict in the afternoon.

It will certainly help, it did with me.

[surreyguy]

By the way, one tip that I found may benefit you greatly is to go down to your local tribunal service and ask to sit in on a Employment Tribunal.

They are open to the public to witness and it will give you a good idea of what to expect.

I went down for a case that lasted the morning and they had a recess for lunch and delivered the verdict in the afternoon.

It will certainly help, it did with me.

 

Hi again Robbond55.

 

Yes , we were thinking of sitting in on a hearing before we actually attend our own , just to get a feel for things.

 

 

Guy

[robbond55]

That would be the best advice I could give as there is no substitute for witnessing proceedings first hand.

The case I watched was a sex discrimination case which the employee won. I got the impression then, and then with my own subsequent experience with my wife is that the tribunal judges do not have much time for those employers who do not follow procedures and employment law properly.

If you do decide to attend please let us have feedback on what you thought anyway.

Regards,

Rob

[gem-100]

Hi Surreyguy, on the cost of taking this to the tribunal, have you checked your household insurance to see if you may have legal cover?, my insurance company have agreed to cover my costs to tribunal, all I have had to pay were the costs in consulting a good empolyment Law firm, and the initial letters and advice, all really worthwhile. I hope you find a solution as my Lawyer said costs can exceed 12k for tribunal cases.

[robbond55]

Hi Surreyguy - any further updates for us?

I am sure I speak for us all when I say that we are all keeping our collective fingers crossed for you and your girlfriend.

[surreyguy]

Hi everyone.

 

Yes , we have an up-date.

 

Our (well girlfriend's lol) case management discussion was held on Thursday.

 

Was NOTHING like i had imagined it to be , we were all hyped up thinking something big was going to happen and ........ nothing!

 

There was myself and my girlfriend , the respondent's solicitor , the respondent's personell manager and the company's finance director.

 

We were called into the room at the allocated time and the Chairperson , a lady , asked us if there were any points either side wished to raise.

 

She then went on to ask how long we thought the case should run for at which point the respondent's solicitor chirpped up "oh your chairperson , this is a very complex matter for which i would suggest we allow 9 days!

 

NINE bloody days i thought , NINE days????

 

I then queried her opinion and she informs us all that she intends to call 9 witnesses and question each witness FOR A WHOLE DAY!

 

So , the nine days have been granted.

 

To me , i think this is a tactic to attempt to put us off , she knows that i am representing my partner and she knows i work......

 

Her ploy will not work though because i have a smashing employer who knows exactly what has went on and has promised me that whatever length of time i am absent due to this tribuanl , i will get off WITH PAY

 

Obviously i will make the time back to him over the next months but his offer warmed my heart.

 

There are genuine people out there , im so glad i have my employer AND YOU lot backing me up.

 

Guy

[Ell-enn]

Hi Surreyguy, glad to see you have kept the fighting spirit!

 

Do you have a university near you? with a law school? if you get in touch with them they may be able to help you with tactics for your hearing. I know some law schools have final year students take on cases to gain experience under the guidance of their tutors.

[dragonkeeper]

Hi surreyguy

 

drug samples may pass through and out the system, but stays whithin hairs so if your gf has not had it cut or altered (perm/colour) it will give a time line record of controlled or uncontrolled drugs taken. Glad Dr's test proved her rightious claim (only for the forums sake it's a pity company could not be named and shamed also the drug test company)

[Bigredbus]

Hi Mr & Mrs 'surreyguy'

 

This is wonderful news... I only can applaud for the great job you have done so far... so... clap, clap, clap...

 

We are all behind you!

[surreyguy]

Hi again everyone.

 

Just as a quick question...

 

Does anyone know what the chance are of the date of a tribunal hearing being chance once it has been arranged?

 

i.e , as i said , ours has been arranged for 9 days in October , what would the chances be of the tribunal offfice allowing it to be changed to 10 days in November ? (respondent who may want to change it , NOT us)

 

Anyone know the answer to this FOR SURE?

 

Guy

[robbond55]

Hi surreyguy - not heard anything on this thread for a while - how is it going?

[surreyguy]

Hi all.

 

Yes , it has been a while but theres not been much happening.

 

Respondents solicitor is beginning to **** me off !

 

They cc'd us a letter they were sending to the tribunal office requesting that a second CMD be held .

 

They then cc'd us a letter to the tribunal office requesting that the date of the hearing be 1) changed to a later date 2) be allowed an extra 2 days (so from 9 days to bloody 11 !!!)

 

They then cc'd us a letter to the tribunal office asking them NOT to change the date / length of the hearing as they had decided that the were infact still happy with the date/length allowed during the FIRST cmd!

 

The upshot is that from all of theses attempted changes i heard NOTHING from the tribunal office so can only assume that they did not authorise any of the changes.

 

The respondent solicitor asked my girlfriend who has under lying medical conditions (which her employer was aware off) to provide details of ALL medical notes relating to her illness . The solicitor harped and harped and really put pressure on us to supply these notes as a matter of urgency , my poor partner got herself into a state from the number of times the solicitor wrote to her saying "i must inform you that if the said medical notes are not in my possession by **/**10 , i will be forced to report your non-compliance to the tribunal judge "

 

Then.......when we were in receipt of the flipping notes and contacted their solicitor to arrange the hand over.......we emailed them OBTAINING THE READ RECEIPT to ensure they actually GOT the email and NOTHING !!!!

 

That was almost a fortnight ago now and they havent even contacted us to arrange to get the notes from us ?

 

They harrassed us to get the bloody notes and now that we have them they wont answerour contact , so the notes remain with us for the meantime.

 

I just dont understand them !

 

 

Guy

 

ps , does anyone know who actually DECIDES if someone is disabled and so covered by the DDA ? The solicitor is telling us that THEY decide and NOT the tribunal judge ?

[robbond55]

Surreyguy -

If you PM me with the details of you GFs condition I will be able to give you some info about disability as I am classed as disabled myself.

What you have been told by the solicitors is BS.

Of course if you don't want to I will understand but it will all be in confidence - I have signed the Official Secrets Act in my last job

[robbond55]

By the way what I would also do is write to the Tribunal Service itself saying that the solicitors intention is to just bully you and that all these changes and requests are not neccessary and do not serve the interests of justice.