How do I word a request to the employment tribunal, asking for a time extension for information, due to illness?

[Calamity1]

Hi,

 

I'm new to this and forums, so forgive me if I've put this in the wrong place.

 

My ET1 was accepted. The employers submitted an ET3. Due to 'an administrative error' (Employment Tribunal's phrase), there has been a very long delay between my being physically attacked by my employers and the submitting of forms by them and the employers.

 

I have literally just received the hearing and due process dates and today I have received a letter from my now ex-employers' solicitors, asking for an unbelieveable amount of information, that I would have to get together by this coming Monday. It would take me more than three days under perfect circumstances, but I am on new medication, from the GP, and have been referred to crisis intervention and a psychiatrist, as well as other health care professionals, as in their words, I am very ill, due to the stress of the attack, incidents leading up to the attack, subsequent court case and continuing intimidation and threats.

 

I am too ill to get this replying information in this time frame. How do I word an email to the Employment Tribunal people, to ask for an extension, to get myself together enough, to answer all these questions? I am also suffering side effects from the medications and clinical depression.

 

Also, I have been asked by the tribunal people to describe my disability (also present at the time of employment) under some kind of regulation rules. Do you know how I do this please? I take about ten medications to maintain my hormone levels, including Metformin as I am pre-diabetic and I am diagnosed with Bipolar Affective Disorder, which is triggered by things like stress, including someone trying to kill me.

 

At some point, I will post a full explanation as to what happened, but I need to first remove the stress of being expected to answer a whole heap of intricately detailed questions by Monday.

 

Thank you for taking time to read this; I hope it makes sense (it's hard to concentrate at the moment) and if anyone answers, I thank you, in advance, for your help.

 

If possible, I think I have to ask for the extension today.

 

C

[BankFodder]

I think that you write a very ordinalry letter - outlining:-

What you have been asked to provide

That the request was made on xxx date and the deadline is on xxx date - leaving only xxx days

That you respectfully ask for an extension to the time required to supply the responses

That an extension of (4 weeks?) would allow you to deal with the matter

That the reason that you are unable to deal with the matter in the linited time available is because of your ill-health - in particular:

particularise your medical problems.

Point out that some of these problems are pre-exisitng

some of the problems have been brought about by the issues of which you are complaining

That it would be unfair for your employer to benefit from a strict implementation of time limits when much of the problems have been caused by their treatment of you

That you have previously tried to conduct the case in a reasonable and efficient way

that you you apologise for any trouble or inconvenience caused by your request for extra time

That you have sent a copy of your request to your employers

 

Send a copy to the employers with a note telling them that you hope that they won't raise any objections.

 

Send the emails and send paper copies to the other side and to the court.

 

Make sure that the letter is well spaced, not verbose and as much of it as possible is bullet pointed so that it is easy to follow

[Calamity1]

Thank you Bankfodder. I will work on that now.

[Calamity1]

I am writing the letter now and will post it here, with names and case number removed (I don't know the rules on confidentiality), prior to emailing and posting it, in case I have made any errors. I hope that's ok and thank you again. C

[Calamity1]

Hi Bankfodder,

 

This is my reply so far. Can you, or anyone else, please tell me what you think and, if necessary, provide constructive criticism and/or advice?

 

Thank you.

 

C

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

I received a letter in the post today, 31st August 2012, from (solicitor's name here), of (solicitor's firm here), on behalf of the respondents, in respect to Employment Tribunal Case: (case number/name here)

 

I have been asked to provide the following:

 

(This bit here is so long, it will take a lot of time to type.)

 

By, (date here), and this only allows me (number of days here) days to gather this information and respond.

 

I, respectfully, ask for an extension to the time required to supply the responses.

 

I believe an extension of four weeks, from today's date, 31st August 2012, would allow me to deal with the matter.

 

The reason that I am unable to deal with the matter, in the limited time available, is because of my ill health.

 

In particular:

 

Depression

Bipolar Affective Disorder

Metabolic Syndrome

 

Bipolar Affective Disorder and Metabolic Syndrome are long term illnesses and symptoms exacerbated by incidents during and after my employment, by the respondents.The depression, which is categorised as serious, has been brought about by the issues of which I am complaining.

 

I have had medications added to my existing medications, to help with the depression. I am still currently experiencing side effects. I also have a number of appointments booked with healthcare professionals, which is also consuming my time and remaining energy.

 

I feel it would be unfair for my previous employers, the respondents, to benefit from a strict implementation of time limits when much of the problems have been caused by their treatment of me.

 

Despite my health issues and difficulties, I have tried to conduct the case in a reasonable and efficient way.

 

I apologise for any trouble, or inconvenience caused by my request for extra time, but due to the circumstances, I feel it necessary to ask.

 

I have sent a copy of my request to my previous employers, the respondents.

 

Thank you for your time and consideration.

 

Yours faithfully,

[becky2585]

Your letter is very good.

 

Is your request in relation to an extension of a tribunal deadline, or a request by your employer?

[Calamity1]

Thank you.

 

This is in response to a letter I just received from my employers' second massive law firm (They're bringing out the big guns, because the evidence I have can not only cost them a lot (not just my claim), but also put them both inside.) asking for a huge amount of information.

 

They say a copy has also been sent to the employment tribunal and that my claim is frivolous and a tissue of lies, I am not going to win and because this is so, I should pay a large deposit for each claim (for wasting time) and there should be a pre-hearing. The police say they shouldn't be near me, for my own safety, and because they have a history of violence.

 

They also say that the hearing should be reduced from five days to two days, as my claims are ridiculous and made up and they imagine I will only have one witness, whereas, they will have two.

 

I hope to have twenty witnesses including the police who offered to be my witnesses, without me asking.

Edited September 1, 2012 by Calamity1

[Calamity1]

On my ET1, I mentioned harassment, bullying, physical assault and a threat and attempt to kill me. I said due to sex discrimination, sexuality discrimination and disability discrimination.

 

I also mentioned not being allowed statutory breaks, which I needed, to be able to consume food to take medication, including diabetic meds; non-receipt of wage slips, which I repeatedly requested; no proper contract (the contract was illegal apparently); no sick pay when I collapsed due to not being able to eat and take medication; repeatedly called in during non-working hours, including one time they locked the door on me, forced me to work and physically stopped me from leaving, when I attempted to and then was threatened; no holiday pay; withholding wages, non-payment of wages, illegal deductions from wages, non-payment of overtime; forced to work seven days a week, sometimes with only two hours off in a day... the list goes on.

 

I am having difficulty downloading a copy of my ET1, although I do have one.

 

I believe I also mentioned being bribed to frame a member of staff for theft, which I refused and then warned her about and being threatened with the sack if I told her, or didn't help them frame her, or carried on protecting staff from attacks and protecting their rights, or carried on doing voluntary charity work, or studied when I wasn't working (they basically said they owned me, and I had to be ready to work as soon as I received a phonecall from them, which happened often and I wasn't paid. They also said I wasn't allowed a partner, or to have a social life as in business there was no room for love, or relaxation. They said money and 'the family', which is how they referred to themselves and their crime 'empire', comes first.), or went on a four day business course to learn about employment rights.

 

What I don't think I did was actually use the term whistle-blowing, as I didn't know this was a legal term, and they threatened and attempted to bribe me to keep my mouth shut about various things, which I didn't, which is why they tried to kill me.

 

My question is: Am I allowed to add whistle-blowing as a specific claim to my ET1 now?

 

Also, they are continuing to threaten and harass me, am I allowed to add these incidents?

 

And finally, what will happen when I produce the crime reports that prove the physical assault and caution for one individual and subsequent attack, by the second employer, 'with a deadly weapon' and the threats to kill me which I believe they put under a part of some section four act?

 

They claim the assault, arrests, threats, caution, subsequent attack, never happened and I made this up and walked out of my job for no reason. So, when I produce the police witnesses and crime reports, which prove they're lying, will they get fined? Will they go to prison for perjury? What happens to the rest of the case? Will the tribunal think, well these are pretty big lies and then I stand more chance, or do I have to go through every single lie and prove every one?

 

Also, at what point should I produce this damning evidence? I don't know whether to do it now, in the hope it will shorten the process (does it?), or whether to save it as 'my trump card' to suddenly hit them with, just prior to the hearing? They're also trying to get a pre-hearing, which I don't want, or should I?

 

Also, I put a sum of owed monies on the ET1, plus compensation. This has now been going on longer than a year, with a hearing due in January. This means I will have been put through this for at least a year and a half. I cannot work now. Can I ask for more compensation because they put me through so much more harassment and stress by lying so much? Or do the tribunal take that into account anyway? Will they get fined by the tribunal because the lies are massive and wasted their time and my time, as well as the time of the people investigating them for fraud etc.? Can I ask them for compensation, plus paying my costs, as I am going to try and get a solicitor and barrister, but it will cost me?

 

I know it's not possible to give definitive answers on a lot of my questions. I'm just going through crap and am looking for some hope to help me make it to the actual hearing. (They're using every dirty trick in the book and it's relentless.)

 

Thank you for your time.

[Emmzzi]

*blinks* were you working for the scientologists?

 

It sounds very complex and like you need a lawyer as the detail needed to advise will be more than we can cope with on a forum.

[altobelli]

What type of company was this?

[Calamity1]

No, just some very nasty people, as it turns out.

 

I am having difficulty in getting a solicitor and barrister, as I have, literally, no money. Although, after all this time, I managed, for the first time, I managed to see a free volunteer barrister, for about an hour and a half, last week and she said, every piece of evidence I have (and it's a lot) is valid.

 

I'm just trying to make it through to the hearing, because if I can comply with all these ridiculous requests and deadlines, plus the continued intimidation, they should be royally stuffed!

 

Just looking for a bit of hope until I can, hopefully, get some consistent and free legal representation.

[Calamity1]

TType of company? Owned by one man, run by him and partner; lots of fingers in many pies, but I ran one establishment, until I found out what was really going on.

[citizenB]

"Whistle Blowing" is a collective term and kind of covers pretty much everything you have itemised.

 

Have Citizens Advice been unable to provide you with any legal assistance ?

[Calamity1]

Thank you for replying citizenB.

 

My local CAB are overloaded, not very good and refer on to solicitors who charge.

 

I was lucky enough to recently be referred to another organisation, who, last Wednesday, managed to see me, when they realised how serious my case was. (There's a lot I haven't mentioned because I'm scared.)

 

The organisation is run by volunteers, who go in for two hours, once, or twice a month. The barrister I met with, was so shocked by some of the information I showed her and told her, that she immediately filled out a referral form for another organisation, to try and get me some kind of representation at any hearings. She did say they're swamped though. She advised me of a couple of things to do and said she will try and see me again.

 

The problem is, I am very unwell now and the respondents are hitting me with a barrage of legal questions, deadlines and also have been to my house to harass me.

 

I need to get help asap.

 

Does anyone have any views on no win, no fee solicitors?

[honeybee13]

Hello there. I'm sorry to hear about all your problems. From what I see on this forum, charitable or voluntary organisations can be some of the worst offenders.

 

I see there are others hovering, but for what it's worth I think there are times when it's worth having a NWNF lawyer. You have nothing to lose by ringing a few and seeing what they think about your case. Get employment specialists though. You can either check Yellow Pages or have a look at the Law Society website that has a search facility so you can find employment specialists in your local area.

 

Also, do you have legal cover on your household insurance?

 

CAG rules don't allow us to recommend specific law firms or solicitors though.

 

My best, HB

[Calamity1]

Thank you honeybee 13.

 

The organisation I worked for aren't a charitable, or voluntary organisation. Not sure if that's what you meant though.

 

Originally, before events over the past year, I was told my case had a 50-50 chance of success. Last Wednesday, I was told, that because their lies have increased and I have so much evidence to prove this, that, if I can make it to the hearing, they have little chance of winning. However, after the police messed up the court cases, I am fairly cynical. (I have also been advised by the barrister to take action against the police, but one thing at a time.)

 

My household insurance ran out because I have no money to pay insurance fees now.

 

I will try and contact some no win, no fee, firms tomorrow.

 

How do they operate? Do they take a percentage of the compensation, or does the other side pay their costs?

 

Sorry for so many questions, but i'm trying to learn as much as I can, as fast as I can, to give me enough hope to make it through to the hearing.

 

I want to stop what these people have been doing for at least 16 years, that I know of. Someone has to stop them. It might as well be me.

[citizenB]

http://www.contactlaw.co.uk/using-a-no-win-no-fee-employment-lawyer.html

 

This tells you about NWNF solicitors.

[Calamity1]

Oh apparently, they have been taken to employment tribunals before and on the day of the hearing, in each case, they paid the person off to silence them.

 

I have been told that they are crapping themselves and are going to get even dirtier. I'm glad they're scared, but am not looking forward to what's undoubtedly going to come.

[Calamity1]

Thank you citizenB.

[Calamity1]

Update: It appears I may have a ****hot solicitor and firm that specialise in employment law and tribunals, to help me now.

 

I don't know how much they will charge me yet, but fingers crossed, and I will post another update when I know more.

 

Thank you for advice received so far and if I win, I will make a donation to your site.

[jackieandwayne]

One of the first things your solicitor should do now is get an injunction against these people to keep them away from you and to stop them inciting others to harass, threaten etc. And after all that has happened it ought to have the power of arrest on it.

 

Well done for not giving in = I thought we had trouble (I'm helping a friends son through an Unfair Dismissal with Disability Discrimination and he;s been threatened, his 8 yr old girl approached by one of the partners, and they came to the house when he was out and tried to intimidate his wife and 2 little ones) but that seems a minor irritation compared to you.

 

We had to tell ACAS about the harassment (police have been dealing with it) and they told us to write to the ET with all the details, which we did, but haven't heard back yet.

 

I have an understanding of (or can quickly understand) legal terms and what have you from my former employment, but knowing a few things, and actually getting on and doing it are very different, so its good you have a solicitor with you on this. But I recommend this book Employment Tribunals (Tactics and Precedents) by Naomi Cunningham. Its about £30 new, but you can get it out the library or try e-bay, I got mine for 99p! Its quite an easy read and it'll help you keep up with things. I found it useful for explaining how to prepare bundles etc.

 

I hope everything goes your way on this, what a nightmare for you. Stay safe.

[Calamity1]

jackieandwayne, thank you for that.

 

I will see if I can find a copy of that book.

 

I have deliberately left out some specific details of what I know, what I've seen them do etc. because I am even concerned that they will find these posts, and these people are capable of very bad things.

 

I feel for your friend's son and family. It's a difficult enough process, without additional threats and intimidation.

 

The police promised they would win the court case and wanted to put me in a safe house to protect me. But I couldn't accept the safe house, as it was only for me and not for some I am responsible for (sorry, I'm being deliberately vague as I have to protect them too) in the house. The police then completely messed up the court case. If I put it here, you wouldn't believe how bad they were.

 

The officer in charge felt bad, so because it left me in danger, the officer offered to move me to another location. I can't afford to move and I'm not the one who has committed crimes, so don't see why I should leave my home of 20 years. Although, now I may have to. The officer then offered to install a panic alarm linked to police station. Still waiting. Now, according to them, I'm on a list and if I dial 999 my call's prioritised and they supposedly get here in 30 seconds. Admittedly, it took a minute last time.

 

I can't go in and out of my home freely as they are watching my home. I won't explain how I get out when I have to, but nothing is simple any more. I am trying to get well enough to take the training that should also help give me a better chance of protecting myself.

 

Considering what has to be gone through to produce evidence against violent criminals, I'm surprised anyone ever does it. I wish I could explain further about why I was even at this establishment in the first place, but it's already sounding like a scene from a movie and,I can't have them find out too much either. I am constantly on my guard and suspicious. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't.

 

Thank you again and I really wish you luck with your friend's son's issues.

[jackieandwayne]

Good God. Now look here, next time you take a job, make sure the employer isn't the Kray twins! I admire you, I really do. I know I can dig my heels in and be as stubborn as a mule but messing with people like that..... well, actually, being a stubborn creature, yeah, I'd refuse to move as well!! Just stay safe.

[Calamity1]

Trust me, I had no idea what they were up to.

 

Unfortunately, they're my neighbours.

 

And as scared as I am, I live by my Grandpa and his brother's code of conduct, which means I can't let this continue, without trying to stop it.

 

If the worst comes to the worst, I will have to move. In the meantime, additional security, supposed police presence and being very careful and trusting very few is what's kept me 'safe' so far.

 

It will get worse though.

 

Thank you for your response and kind thoughts.

[Calamity1]

P.s. I think I would have been safer with the Kray twins!