INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNAL

[olly55]

has anyone ever been to one?

if so how are they set out? are they like a normal court at all?

im takin my case to tribunal on the 12th of jan and startin to get nervous bout it now, jus wonderd if i cud sort of know what to expect it make things easier lol

[CP]

try asking citizens advice?

[?Marty?]

i've been to one several times.

Dont worry about it AT ALL.

The set out depends on where it is, some look similar in a court room, but only in so far as the wooden panelling and the seating arrangements.

However, the whole hearing is pretty informal and is more favoured towards the employee.

I'm assuming you're talking about an employment tribunal (there are several different ones)?

Employees very seldom lose their hearing, as they consider the merits of the hearing before they take it on, and if they decide to hear your case then you're partly there already.

Also, unlike an actual court, you can not recover legal fees, so even if you lost you would not be stuck with having to pay your employers legal costs (if they hire legal representation) as you would in other civil disputes.

Dont worry mate - it's informal (you dont need to know any legal jargon - just be polite and etc. Though obviously you do need to know where you stand, in terms of your legal position), employment law is strongly in favour of protecting employee rights, and by having your hearing accepted, the tribunal already thinks you have merit in your case so you've 'partly won it' already. Remember, all you have to do is state your case, and the employer has the burden of disproving your claim.

http://www.employmenttribunals.gov.uk/

[olly55]

cheers marty m8 much appreciated my solicter sed the same things to me just wanted to hear it from someone whos been,

yes its an employment tribunal, iv got representation yes im not walking into it blind as shes gonna do all the legal jargon n cross examining etc,

mind you, the amount of stuff iv got into with this case i might as well b a breif myself!!!

hopefully it will sway my way on the day or they settle beforehand as the cash would come in very handy plus clearing my name would help too!

theyve got a 6 strong legal team attending the hearing for their side (woolworths) inc a barrester doing the talking :?

my solicter is a trainee barrister too tho so it not that bad plus it my dads freinds daughter so it only costing a lil bit,

got tribunal on the 12th, by the 3rd it will have been a year since it started, long tyme the ykept puttin the dates off due to loads of gay reasons but im determind to win it, ill b polite i can be wen i have to be, jsu gotta not let the barrister bird wind me up, must keep cool lol

jus gotta collect me new suit now and im sorted

[Neil.]

what did woolworths do?

[olly55]

unfairly dissmissed me with no evidence and the only eveidence they did have - a fabricated witness statement made up by this fukkin geek they refusedto show me which will sway thetribunal neway let alone al lthe procedureal errors made while investigating ( if u can call it that)

and after i was dissmissd i calld the area manager a fat **** and subsequnetly got banned from everywoolies in the uk, a mean feat ithink ull agree lol

[Neil.]

damn right u should take them to court, u saying that u calling him a fat **** was u being upset or some helpful health advice for him to diet?

[olly55]

lol i only sedfatcunt onder my breath like but he heard me, and banned me so i thought bollox and slaggd offthat he wore his trousers too high and mgs r for women lol

[epo]

damn right u should take them to court, u saying that u calling him a fat c**t was u being upset or some helpful health advice for him to diet?

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[?Marty?]

lol

damn right, sue the fuckers. I know someone who had to quit woolies due to them getting a new manager who made working there unbearable. Trying to convince her to sue them for constructive dismissal. It's where you quit, but (due to the circumstances) you can then file a claim for unfair dismissal) lol

You may end up settling out of court by then anyway, MOST employment hearings are, as what it would cost woolies to defend themselves, even if successfull would probably be less than what you'd be awarded in the event of a successful outcome. And if they settle out of court, no legal judgement against them can be made i.e. no record to say they dismissed you unfairly.
Though, i presume they will have an in-house legal department so they're not spending anything that they already dont pay them.

Dont worry about it, they are only using the '6 strong legal team' purely for intimidation purposes anyway, as it's HIGHLY uneccessary for a tribunal. I represented myself, and my ex employers had legal representation. But i kicked ass anyway. lol

[olly55]

they havnt got an in house legal team as such the yhave gone elsewhere and r claiming there legal costs on the case will be in excess fo 10k, i doubt it servrely though,

they have offerd to settle twice but both times i told em to stick it

1st tyme they sed have ?75 pounds to call ti quits - LOL nope

2nd time a month ago the yofferd me ?1,000 but wudnt admit they were wrong so is aid stick it to them again,

now my solicter is puttin in for 4k plus so hopefully, she rekons its more than likely that they wil lsettle about 5 mins literally before we walk into the tribunal

[?Marty?]

Well, they CANT claim their legal expenses as it's only possible in a tribunal if the tribunal feels that your hearing is a 'waste of time' i.e. with no merit. This doesnt happen as they wouldnt agree to hear it in the first place.


wudnt admit they were wrong - i think you will find that denial of liability is a standard term when settling 'out of court'. Still, you will probably get more from the hearing than by settling outside of it.

[olly55]

yer i kno all about the legal expense that lol god knos iv ploughd most of the oney i had saved to do my car with in order to clear my name etc...

thats the one thing i wont settle out of court on is if they dnt accept liability fi they offer to settle out of court ill tell em to stick it because the tribunal r worried about whether or not woolies followed the right procedure in which we have a number of errors such as

adding things to notes after interviews
refused to see the witness statement / tock take
3 collegues who told me things the **** that set me up wassaying wernt interviewed
ect ect i could go on

lol a week 2moror it is, its beena a year coming so fingerscrossed!

[olly55]

:D :?: :?

as expected WOOLWORTHS want to settle as they dont want to go to court!!

BUT

do i agree on settling out of court or do i carry on and see it through to the end?

i was thinking of askin my breif to find out what sort of offer theydsettle at then go from there but it dnt work like that, ive got to say a figure id settle for then they will negotiate,

and the thing is if i say id setlle for 2.5k and they say well givu 2k and i say no, when it comes to the tribunal the chairman may think that was a good enuff offer and see it fit that iom wasting his time when i could of had 2k?

hard one i dunno wat figure to go for at mo we r claiming for 4k

[srs1]

think about how much you have put into this yourself (think what mod you want next on your car) join the 2 together lol.

if your employment history has been affected. and you cant get employed since, then all this should be reflected in the final payout.

and a written apology, as this would be good for your cv, to prove that they were wrong.

[?Marty?]

Well, the Tribunal will award compensation for your losses i.e. loss of earnings, any other reasonably incurred losses, and an award for the Unfair Dismissal Itself.

Whatever you are claiming for has to be some sort of actual estimation, and not a 'i wouldnt mind this much' figure.

This is what you would ask for to settle out of court. HOWEVER, you DO NOT need to state what you want, you can invite them to make an offer.

I settled out of court on one of my cases, and they originally made me an offer, which i declined. Then they made another, which i again declined and then i submitted my own counter-offer. With arguments why it would be in their interests to settle now, why my offer was reasonable and how i arrived at the figure. And etc. (I got A LOT more than i would have got in the tribunal had i won, and since i was representing myself, i didn't have to share a penny with anyone :o) ).

What they offer you WILL most likely be a lot less than you can get, BUT you can generally ask for MORE when you're settling because they are the one's that are benefitting from this since they dont get a judgement against them and it saves them more cost and time and etc. i.e. it'd cost them legal fees ON TOP of your claim of compensation, which is why it has to be some sort of estimate, because then you can show them how you came to the figure you're asking for.
i.e. Your (reasonable) claim for compensation, with maybe some of what it would cist them to defend themselves in court added on top. But if it's too close to what it WOULD cost them, they may well decide to try and gamble it in court. I say 'gamble', because when employers offer to settle out of court, usually means they're trying to buy you off as they know they will most likely end up having to compensate you in court.

It's almost like a game. You think 'what if i can get more', and they think 'what if we can defend the claim OR pay less than we might agree to give them'. But it's also a race against time, because soon you'll all know.

SO you can use this to point out to them that it'd cost them just as much/more, even if they sucessfully defend against your action so BECAUSE they can not recover their legal costs from you.

And the sooner you settle, the less your legal costs will be.

Anyway, had to rush this answer because i got to go somehwre now.

[olly55]

yea i knew most of that already marty lol, been going on 4 over a year no wim well up on the legalities of tribunals etc lol theyve gone back on there orig settlement offer by asking if ill accept 700 pounds

lol get stuffd the tribunal is on monday and my solicter has spoke to collegeus and they say we shudnt lose at all,

the solicter has cost me nothin so far as its a family freinds daughter ill pay her summit out of my compo if i get any

[olly55]

oops 22 1/2 hours to go... startin to get nervous already lol