r/employmentlitigation

Has anyone been through it already? What should I be asking for or watching out for? I can prepare my schedule of loss but I won't have anything for personal injury unless sick notes count. Should I have my witness statement and timeline/statement of facts on hand?

It's about disability discrimination that's been ongoing for two years at a well known university; I'm hoping to keep working for them in a different role and different department (it's silo'd enough that that is feasible).

I'm not experienced with negotiation and have ASD, which affects communication. I'm already kind of terrified of this so any advice would be appreciated

When I set out to raise a claim at the Employment Tribunal, I knew it would be stressful but one good thing I thought was that at least the Tribunal has formal rules and deadlines which are written down which would make things manageable. Boy, was I wrong!

Here are some unfriendly ND features based on my experience so far. Anyone got anything else to add to the list?

- the Tribunal has its own set of social rules and social expectations. You are meant to just ‘know’ what is relevant, ‘know’ what you are allowed to challenge your opponent on, ‘know’ what is the right amount of detail in a ‘Particulars of Claim’ (whatever that is), etc. if you get it wrong, your (legally represented) opponent who does know the social rules has an opportunity to chastise you and you look like an idiot.

- rules do not literally mean what they say. That CMO which says you must disclose “all relevant documents” by x date? What it actually means is, you should disclose something but if you don’t feel like disclosing a critical document, that’s totally ok and if my opponent has a problem with it, they will have to waste their time/money and get their mind-reading goggles on and guess what their opponent might be hiding to make a specific disclosure request etc etc. those who exert all their energy in trying to comply with near-impossible deadlines at great sacrifice to other things in life, are actually disadvantaging themselves. Put your feet up and go on holiday instead!

- “disability” and “ill health” seem to mean different things when the Tribunal makes a judgement about whether your employer has provided a reasonable adjustment, VS deciding whether you’re submitted your ET1 on time. Concepts such as “meltdowns”, “overwhelm” etc are entirely relevant for the former but seem alien for the latter and unless you’re in a coma and physically not able to write an email, then as far as the Tribunal was concerned, it was “reasonably practicable” for you to submit your claim on time.

- deadlines for orders have little meaning and if there are any queries on clarity or one party refuses to meet the deadline, you are just meant to deal with the situation, until the time the Tribunal comes to provide (retrospective) guidance and direction, however long that may be. Eg if the Respondent does not disclose an important document (or make any disclosure at all), you still have to continue writing your witness statement.

- deadlines can be extended very, very close to the Final Hearing and when you do get the direction to comply with a revised deadline, you’re meant to drop whatever you’re doing in life to comply with very short deadlines. Likewise, if you’re the receiver, you’re meant to read and digest at lightning speed. I’ve seen cases where witness statements aren’t exchanged until a week before which is absolutely fricking insane.

- There is virtually no case or behaviour management anymore. your opponent can swear at you. Call you an idiot. Or do nothing at all and miss every single deadline. And you just have to wait months and months for the Tribunal to respond. All that time you’ve spent researching Da Rules and concepts such as “unless orders” and “strike out applications” was totally redundant and you’ll be flushing money/time down the toilet in applying your knowledge. I’ve been waiting 6+ months for the Tribunal to deal with my applications, by which time I’ll have my final hearing.

Source: I’m at London Central.

I’ve been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder which means I get pretty INTENSE feelings which cause me to become suicidal even over small things but the intensity is short lived. I have a disability discrimination and unfair dismissal claim. For my schedule of loss can I claim for an award in the upper Vento band if I experienced intense injury to feelings even if they did not last for a long time? I’ve seen a few examples of high award claims but they are all for hurt feelings lasting years.

England

I’m moving from using a solicitor in pre-action / ACAS to becoming a LiP now we’re in litigation. This due to exhausting my budget. Wanted to ask if and when you’d offer another WP email offer to settle or would you now let litigation run its course for a bit?

Background:
R solicitor is aggressive and vehemently denies claim’s merit. I’ve had my claim assessed by a barrister (at ET1 stage) who thought it was decent but hinges on credibility and will turn on a timing issue that will only be outed in Disclosure.

They’ve sent cost warnings and ‘evidence’. They’re representing a private company who won’t have been through anything like this before, protective of their reputation, think cult-like tech co.

Current situation is waiting for their ET3. Do I bother reaching out with another without prejudice letter? Even though they have rejected 3 previous attempts by my solicitor in prelitigation? Or do I just sit back and wait a bit longer? My Hearing date is December 2027 (England & Wales)

TL;DR: My employer delayed my start date to order disability equipment, but left me without it for over half a year. This caused severe physical pain, which led to medication that triggered multiple life-threatening respiratory emergencies at work. Managers withheld critical H&S emails. The employer secretly authorised paid special leave because the office was unsafe, but still gave me a formal written warning for absences caused by the missing equipment. Do I have a strong tribunal claim, should I push for a settlement, and what might a realistic financial value be?

Body:
I work in a large public sector organisation. Before starting, I declared multiple disabilities (spinal/mobility issues, a severe chronic respiratory condition, and I am neurodivergent). The employer delayed my start date specifically to ensure a specialist ergonomic chair and a rise-and-fall desk were ordered and ready for day one.

The equipment wasn't there when I started. It took nearly six months for a chair to arrive, and when it did, it was defective. The desk arrived a month later

Because I had no ergonomic chair, my spinal issue flared up severely. I have a long daily commute that already takes a toll on my back, so the lack of office support pushed it over the edge. I required a prescription for NSAIDs to manage the pain. Those NSAIDs are a known trigger for my respiratory condition. This directly caused life-threatening respiratory failures within six months, requiring emergency ambulances to be called to my workplace. A hospital formally documented this exact chain of events.

My line manager actively withheld a critical email from the Health & Safety team for about a month, deliberately stalling my equipment order while I was in physical pain.

The employer internally authorised around two months of "Paid Special Leave," acknowledging the working environment was unsafe. However, they hid this status from me, told me to keep working, and then issued a Formal Written Warning for sickness absences—including disciplining me for an absence that fell inside the exact dates of their own authorised Paid Special Leave.

A subsequent manager explicitly put in writing that Occupational Health recommendations are essentially just a loophole they don't actually have to follow.

The employer refused remote work, claiming the role required face-to-face attendance. However, a colleague in my exact role and probation status was granted 100% remote work.

Settlement & Next Steps:
I've filed a grievance, but they have formally rejected ACAS Early Conciliation. My probation has been extended.
I want to avoid a drawn-out, multi-year legal battle if possible.

Given the evidence, I am looking at claims for failure to make reasonable adjustments, discrimination arising from disability, victimisation, and potential personal injury. I earn an average salary with a generous defined-benefit pension scheme.

What is a realistic settlement value I should be aiming for? How do I calculate this, and what is the best strategy to force them to the negotiating table now that they've rejected ACAS?

Hey everyone,
I filed a complaint in late Jan this year against a very senior member of staff for sexual harassment. He’s been arrested for it.

The whole process has been a shambles. I got no support from the company, no safeguarding, no welfare checks, nothing. My manager basically told me to deal with it myself. HR staff left without handing anything over.

They won’t even talk to me now without lawyers involved. Won’t give me updates. Nothing. When I complained about the lack of support they (I hate this word) gaslit me and straight up lied which I was so shocked about. It’s all just become so nasty now.
I’ve been on sick leave because of it but I have to go back to work in a weeks time.

And now they’re advertising my job. The exact same job I do. While I still work there. I know they’re trying to get me to leave but I won’t resign.
The investigation finished weeks ago but they still won’t tell me the results. Settlement is apparently going through ACAS but nothing’s happening. Early conciliation ended over a month ago.
I’ve filed my ET1. I don’t have a lawyer.
I’m completely lost about what happens next.

Any advice? What am I meant to do if they refuse to tell me the outcome of my grievance? Is this a reasonable amount of time to wait? Can I add to my ET1 later that the process dragged on for x amount of weeks?

I have a deadline to agree bundle in a few weeks. Disclosure has yet to take place. Most of my documents are held by the Respondent but I have copies of pretty much all of them already after getting a DSAR. How do I go about things? Do I simply list the documents I have already and send them the documents that I have in my possession that they would not have? Medical evidence for example.

Also if there is a long chain of emails do I just list the dates of the relevant ones?

The Respondent is responsible for the bundle creation.

Is there a way that I am allowed to record / transcribe whats said at a phone hearing?
Was thinking of asking R for notes after but
Impaired short term memory is making this process feel more and more impossible, is it better not to let R know how bad this is ( Dr says it’s stress) as it’s going to be hard at FH esp re cross examination which could be crucial.
Thank you

Trying to get my head around indirect discrimination. Wondering if there can be a PCP where staff are bullied, and if I have a communication issue, can I argue that puts me at a particular disadvantage compared to other staff (who might be able to stand up for themselves more easily)?

How does one determine what is a “particular disadvantage”?

The Respondent's solicitor said an ET3 had been filed 60 days ago, but the Tribunal said it had not been received. My claim involves over five heads, including disability discrimination and automatically unfair dismissal. I have called the Tribunal more than 10 times, but they kept saying there is no ET3 recorded in the system. What can I do?

Good evening. The respondent sent through over 20 hours of audio late last night. Witness statements were due today but they have asked for another extension (originally was due end of April).

I’m skimming through them but just wanted to clarify how audio goes at final hearing. If I’m cross examining and have a question relating to it, I’m assuming I would note the audio reference and minute/second and ask for it to be played…or do I play it from my laptop?

Might seem very trivial but I don’t want to turn up and have to subject the tribunal to 20 hours of audio!

Thanks

What do I do? My deadline is today.

Edit 1. 00:55. My deadline was yesterday.

The website is fine until you click onto 'make a claim' or 'return to a claim' at which point it is not fine at all.

What am I meant to do now?

So - I’m well into proceedings now for disability discrimination. However I am mentally not in the most stable of places. Not because of litigation - but because of on-going mental health issues that are long standing.

Recently I have been under a psychiatrist and I’m on my way to stabilising.

I am aware of how the on-going litigation isn’t entirely helpful. So a few months ago I was weighing up if it was an option asking the tribunal to postpone. But I decided that actually, once disclosure is done with and the witness statement is written, it gives me 10 months before the actual final hearing to get stable. I assessed that is within my range of coping.

Since the R has withdrew there disability concession I feel unable to deal with it. Not emotionally as such. I mean changing tactic and now having to figure out what additional medical evidence I would need to put in the bundle and also collating it. We have already gone past the date we should have agreed it, so I feel a pressure to work fast on the issue.

I have said to R look I am not in a position to change focus at this stage and would appreciate if we can continue how we was in terms of agreeing the bundle without the need for me to include additional evidence to prove disability in the capacity of there withdrawal. But they said they’re unable to agree it based on my original litigation approach given it is now a jurisdiction issue. We only have a short window before witness statements are due.

They haven’t yet put a formal application into the tribunal to withdraw admission; so far the have only emailed to notify the tribunal of a change in position.

I can’t possibly get my brain to work with the R and start supplying additional medical evidence to prove disability within the bundle.

Will this be viewed as unreasonable? Is there an option to postpone proceedings temporarily until I am more able to deal with things like this? Maybe it was a little short sighted of me to think things would run smoothly when it’s litigation and all kinds of things can go in different directions.

Oh litigation isn’t fun!

Does it mean you’re more disadvantaged compared to other people, or does it mean a specific disadvantage which is related to your disability?

Question regarding the law in England

I have been advised by several employment law firms to consider pursuing a separate Personal Injury claim, as the employer’s conduct and breach of duty have resulted in a new disability for me.

I am somewhat uncertain about how financial remedies would be determined if there are concurrent claims—specifically, one in the Employment Tribunal and another in the Civil Court.

I am currently acting as a litigant in person for the Employment Tribunal claim, while I am in the process of securing a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) for the Personal Injury claim.

1. How does the court determine awards for losses when identical facts are presented in different courts?
2. Additionally, if the Employment Tribunal awards compensation for a loss of five years’ career, but the Civil Court finds the loss to be lifelong, which award would I actually receive?
3. Furthermore, how should I reference the intended Personal Injury claim losses in my Case Management Agenda and Schedule of Loss? I want to be clear that I am aware of double recovery to avoid any scrutiny from Tribunal/Respondent.
4. I would like to inform the Employment Tribunal that I intend to claim additional losses such as care needs and medical costs (if I am correct, the Employment Tribunal may not have the authority to award these). Do I need to exclude those categories in the Schedule of Loss explicitly?

For question 4.2 specifically:

If the claims succeed, and the claimant does not go back to work for the respondent, how much money is the claimant asking for as compensation? 

Do I need to give the actual figures and write something to the effect of -

The Claimant anticipates that the total valuation of the claim will be in the region of £60,000-£90,000 (just an example, not actual value of my claim).

Or can I use this wording to allow the SoL to outline the exact figures:

A Provisional Schedule of Loss will be provided to the Tribunal 7 calendar days before the Preliminary Hearing and will be updated as further medical and expert evidence becomes available.

I don't want to write the exact figures to attract scrutiny by the Respondent, I would rather adjust SoL as the proceedings continue up to FH.

Respondent have disclosed their documents, but I'm required to log in through a microsoft system to access them from their solicitor's portal, which asks for permissions to access my data...

I've asked them to share them in a way that doesn't require a log in, or access to my data.

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Hello, all. My employer has listed my exact role just a week after I was dismissed and whilst still awaiting appeal decision. This is a whistleblowing dismissal, by the way. Can I use this as further proof of predetermination or not?

I am preparing my Case Management Agenda and I'm wondering which date I need to have in mind or put forward for disclosure of evidence.

From my research online, it can be 4-6 months after Preliminary Hearing. Is that normal?