The New Year’s Resolution
One of my New Year’s resolutions is to share ideas for challenging vexatious employment tribunal claims.
I spend a lot of my time helping employers with claims which, being generous, amount to no more than a load of words in a bucket. Since tribunal fees were abolished last year, we are seeing tribunals being used as a blunt instrument by disgruntled employees to secure unjustified pay-outs.
This was particularly galling in a case I dealt with recently because of the nature of the employer’s business: the protection of vulnerable children. Seeing funds diverted away from such a cause made the issue seem even more pronounced.
Pick a Number…
This particular case was a twenty-six-page claim, with fifty-two ‘detriments’ in just five months, it read somewhat like a script from Eastenders with claims of bullying, whistleblowing, grand theft larceny, treasonous libel, harassment and crimes against the Road Traffic Act to mention but a few. I realised fighting this head-on would be nigh on impossible. The stated aim of this particular claimant, who had been in employment for my client for a matter of months (and who found alternative employment in any case) was the modest and improbable sum of £320,000.
It’s only Words
If I had responded in the traditional way, my bill would have certainly racked up to nothing short of a ‘crime against humanity.’ So instead of taking the bait, I poured myself a cup of tea and pressed on through the 40,000-word document. In this state of tranquillity, I noticed that the claimant had omitted to use the ‘D’ word (as in ‘d’ for dismissal). In the absence of a dismissal, or a medical report the claim could only be worth £5000.
‘H’ for Hindsight
Broadly speaking, that’s exactly how it all went away without any hearing. Harmony restored. In hindsight, after all these years of lengthy written responses I might be just as useful when I say nothing at all.
Watch this space in coming months, when I will be creating a blog to share insight into how these nuisance claims can be brought to heel.
Troubleshooting Employment Solicitors
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