How to act on the day of the tribunal

[Brighton-cpe]

Tribunal hearing next week for unfair dismissal and disability discrimination

Please can anyone give me some advice on what to wear on the day.

How to address the judge and their panel?

If I can interrupt when the respondents state something that is not true. Can I speak up or should I point my barrister to this?

Would really appreciate any info as this is all new to me. Its fairly stressful and I just want to try and keep me composure.

Best wishes
------------------------------- merged -------------------------------
One more thing,

I have read somewhere (I will post the link) that is possible to take a laptop into the court room. Does anyone know if this is the case. This would be really helpful!!!

[charitynjw]

Re: How to act on the day of the tribunal

Hi Brighton-cpe

Loads of info on here http://etclaims.co.uk/tag/hearings/ (Don't forget to click 'older posts' at bottom of page)

[bluebottle]

Re: How to act on the day of the tribunal

I know that one of our more learned members always recommends that men wear a dark suit, white shirt and plain, sombre tie with black shoes. In the case of women, a dark jacket and skirt or trouser suit with white blouse and black shoes. It might sound a rather formal and sombre way to dress, as if you are going to a funeral, but the right sort of appearance does matter.

When addressing the judge directly, always refer to them as "Your Honour", unless they are a High Court Judge, in which case you refer to them as "My Lord". Never refer to them as "Judge".

If you are being represented by a legal professional, in your case, a barrister, you should point out any false testimony made by the other side and any witnesses they produce to your legal representative and let them examine, cross-examine and challenge such testimony. That is what they are being paid to do and are trained to do.

Regarding keeping your composure, the other side will try to rubbish what you say and will, inevitably, call you a liar to the point where you may start to doubt yourself. Please do not fall into the trap of rising to their bait, which is what they want you to do, or be goaded in any way. If you know what you are saying is true, remain calm, speak clearly and, above all, speak with conviction. If you do not understand what the other side's legal representative is saying or getting at, you are within your rights to say, "I'm sorry. I do not understand what you are saying. Could you be more specific, please?" If their legal representative continues to be vague, then you should address the judge, "I'm sorry, your Honour. I do not understand what Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms ****** is saying or trying to say. Could they be more clearer as to what they are saying, please?" Your legal representative may do this or you may do this. However, do check with your legal representative prior to the hearing.

Some employers engage what are loosely described as "HR Consultants" to represent them at ET hearings. These "HR Consultants" are no more than former personnel managers and are not legally-trained. They can be particularly nasty and can get personal and I do know that legal professionals would like to see them properly regulated or their right of audience (right to represent a client) before an ET hearing withdrawn. However, do not let this deter you.

Appearing before a court or a tribunal is a very stressful experience - I can speak from experience of giving evidence in magistrates', crown and county courts - but if you remain calm, follow the advice given to you by your legal representative, speak clearly and with conviction, you should find it not as daunting as you might think.

With regard to taking your laptop into the ET hearing, I would advise you to speak to your legal representative about this as they will or should be familiar with current rules governing the use of computer equipment at a hearing.

All the very best and I hope you win your case.

BB

[Brighton-cpe]

Re: How to act on the day of the tribunal

yo
Charitynjw, thanks for the link this is so helpful
Bluebottle thanks for your inputs, this to is so helpful!!
Can't thank you enough, you must be my guardian angels!
not long to go now.

All the best
thankyou

[Ninnings]

Re: How to act on the day of the tribunal

One piece of advice I saw sated that you should point your chair and feet to the panel so that you are addressing them at all times. Hope this helps. Let your barrister do the work, that's what they're there for. You can pass notes to your barrister during submissions to help them.

[Brighton-cpe]

Re: How to act on the day of the tribunal

Hi there,

I am really surprised with what my employer has submitted for their bundle.

I was barely coping at work due to the bullying behavior of one female manager.

Much of their evidence (which I have only seen, in the last few days, a year after leaving) proves that the whole time the company nitwits had a hidden agenda of getting rid of me (I suspected this), hence the bullying intensified when I requested one day off a week for counseling (this was backed by a signed letter from my GP)

Company internal mail correspondence:

"The doctor's note looks very suspicious, I believe that a qualified doctor would use better English and not make mistakes"

Basically the gist of the email insinuates I faked a doctors note. This trivialized my request for counseling and which I believe is serious character assassination.

Another internal email memo states:
"we should come across as being supportive, that way it will look better on us in the long run"

Breach of confidentiality:
"He was very keen for the report to to only go to xxx, and not to be seen by other people. Therefore I wouldn't mention it to him in the meeting"

and the list goes on...

What I would like to know is why has my ex-employer deliberately submitted evidence to the tribunal, which quite obviously goes against them and confirms my suspicions that the whole time they had a hidden agenda and did their hardest to get me to leave the company!

I'm perplexed!

[bluebottle]

Re: How to act on the day of the tribunal

Brighton,

What you have disclosed in your post reveals serious breaches of the law by your former employers. One of our more learned members is more familiar with the issues raised insofar as Employment Law is concerned. My background, as you will see from my signature, is in Criminal Law, so I can give you some pointers in that respect. As well as the Equality Act 2010, you could also bring proceedings against your former employers under Section 3, Protection from Harassment Act 1997. This would enable you to obtain an injunction to prevent any further harassment and improper disclosure of personal information about yourself. There may also be a case to answer under the Data Protection Act 1998, which will need to be referred to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) for investigation and necessary action. You need to speak to your legal representative about the disclosures by your former employers before the hearing.

If you want my personal opinion about your former employers, they appear to be intent on committing financial and commercial suicide as well as loss of reputation. I very much doubt any judge is going to be favourably-disposed towards their side of the case. Judges are not known for their tolerance of bullying and harassment.

BB

[Brighton-cpe]

Re: How to act on the day of the tribunal

dear Bluebottle,

many thanks for your response.

In respect of the breach of confidentiality, under the data protection act, I am assuming this claim wont be able to be brought up in the tribunal on the day, as its only one day away and we already have two claims in. Is this also the case for the protection for harassment claim?

Can proceedings be started after the tribunal has finished, as my solicitor is probably going to be very reluctant to take on any extra work at this late stage.

Best wishes

[bluebottle]

Re: How to act on the day of the tribunal

dear Bluebottle,

many thanks for your response.

In respect of the breach of confidentiality, under the data protection act, I am assuming this claim wont be able to be brought up in the tribunal on the day, as its only one day away and we already have two claims in. Is this also the case for the protection for harassment claim?

Can proceedings be started after the tribunal has finished, as my solicitor is probably going to be very reluctant to take on any extra work at this late stage.

Best wishes

If your legal representative is using the Equality Act 2010 as the basis for part of your claim, then harassment should be taken into consideration by the Tribunal as it involves a protected issue, i.e. disability, and is covered by that legislation. Additionally, if your legal representative is going to raise the issue of breach of confidentiality and the remarks made by your former employers (which would amount to a breach of trust and confidence on their part), the Tribunal can only deal with this as it relates to your claim and your former employment.

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) deals with breaches of the Data Protection Act 1998. This means that if your former employer disclosed any of your personal information to anyone you had not authorised them to disclose it to (except those they are required by law to disclose it to, e.g. HMRC, DWP), they commit an offence under the Act and the Information Commissioner has the power to fine them and order them to compensate you for any losses you have suffered as a result of any unauthorised and/or improper disclosures. It will, of course, depend on whether the disclosures were in connection with your employment and whether the Tribunal has authority to adjudicate on that issue.

The Protection from Harassment Act 1998 is often used to deal with bullying when the Equality Act 2010 is either not appropriate or not applicable. There is case law - Mjrowski -v- Guys and St Thomas's NHS Trust 2005 - that makes an employer vicariously liable for the actions of any employee who engages in any course of conduct against another employee that amounts to harassment. Bullying is a type of harassment and the Act is very effective in dealing with it. It will be effective in dealing with any improper disclosures of your personal information and any attacks on your character and reputation by your former employers. Section 3 of the Act enables you to apply to your local County Court for an interim injunction - without giving notice to those who will be the subject of the injunction - following this up with an application to a Circuit Judge, shortly after being granted the interim injunction, for the injunction to be made permanent.

You will need to discuss these issues with your legal representative and decide when and if it would be appropriate to pursue proceedings under the Data Protection Act 1998 and Protection from Harassment Act 1997 separately from the Tribunal hearing, even though what your former employer did is relevant to that which will be brought up at during the Tribunal hearing.

BB

[Brighton-cpe]

Re: How to act on the day of the tribunal

Dear Bluebottle,

many thanks for your post, I have just submitted a complaint re my ex-employer's potential breach to the Information Commissioner's office.

I will be speaking to my barrister for the first time this afternoon at 4pm. I am hoping the barrister has picked up on all these points.

You do mention: "It will, of course, depend on whether the disclosures were in connection with your employment and whether the Tribunal has authority to adjudicate on that issue."

Well the email correspondence goes on to say:"We have obviously needed to see the report in order to do our jobs.", even though I did not give express permission and its quite obvious that I don't want the whole office knowing my private circumstance! What is your view on this?

I will be bringing up Data Protection Act 1998 and Protection from Harassment Act 1997 with my barrister this afternoon, is there anything else I should mention.

Thanks so much for your help. Much appreciated!

[Brighton-cpe]

Re: How to act on the day of the tribunal

Hi Bluebottle,

please find attached p195, pertaining to the breach of confidentiality, where I expressly stated that the GP's report was to go to one person only.

It would have been nice if my the employer had asked for my consent before circulating the report around the office without my knowledge.

Please let me know if you deem this a serious enough breach?

Kind Regards

[SpringerSpaniel]

Re: How to act on the day of the tribunal

Going back to the original question, my advice is as follows:

The Tribunal is not a criminal court, so is slightly less formal. The Judge should be addressed as 'Sir' or 'Madam', referring to wing members as 'your colleagues'.

It may though be a more conservative environment than you work, it is not necessary to wear black but something quiet, formal and smart will make a good impression - eg as if you were going for a job interview. Avoid jeans, leggings, trainers, bright colours and open necked shirt; wear a shirt with a collar not a T-shirt, if male wear a tie. (If female, don't wear a tie )

In your answers try to be clear and straightforward and keep things simple. If you don't understand the questions say so. Don't volunteer information damaging to your case unless told to do so by your legal representatives.

I haven't been through your thread in depth yet, but I would be concerned that there may be an issue about whether your conditions falls within the definition of a disability as it may be a short term rather than a long term health problem and may hopefully resolve or improve with treatment. The disability discrimination provisions are meant to be for a long term imnpairment which affects your functioning in day to day life significantly.

[SpringerSpaniel]

Re: How to act on the day of the tribunal

Brighton, could you post on this thread a link to the discussion of your cause of action ?

I agree with BlueBottle, if you have been bullied at work the Protection from Harrasment Act may be relevant. The bullying does not need to be on account of what is called a 'protected characteristic' eg race or gender, it can be any bullying. (In the test case which BlueBottle mentions, the bulllying was homophobic and this case preceeded the Employment Equality regulations now in force).

The other issue is likely to be breach of the implied term of trust and confidence in your contract of employment, eg by circulating the medical report without your consent, which can lead to a claim of constructive unfair dismissal. However for this you would need a minimum qualifying period of service with this employer.

[Brighton-cpe]

Re: How to act on the day of the tribunal

hi Springer,

yes in response to your post, a little late I know, the tribunal has now been and gone and the judgement went in the favour of the respondents.

I find this really perverse as the judges did not side with me on any of my points but sided 95% with the other side. Despite the clear evidence of bullying and harassment, despite the fact I had suffered serious trauma through losing a family member.

My employers were aware of my loss and the tragic circumstances and proceeded to carry on harassing me under the guise of my line manager. In the end I had no other option then to leave for my own sanity.

I am in the process of getting ready for a review of the decision. the judges found there was no bullying and no harrasment what so ever. My question is why then would I bring a claim in the first place!

I need all the help I can get right now!!!