Case of the week

Serial litigant makes one claim too many!

“I’ve only got three tribunal claims on the go, so what’s the problem?”

It could be argued that the popularity of the employment tribunal system is that it is free for the user. Many thousands of claims are made each year, some are won, some lost, some withdrawn and others settled before they make it to a hearing, but the system is undoubtedly successful in administering justice in the context of employment law.

Costs are only awarded in exceptional circumstances and occasionally, when claims are made with little prospect of success, the tribunal may ‘strike them out’ or order a deposit to be paid in order to continue. But in the scheme of things these are rarities.

Not too long ago fees were introduced (£1,200 for an unfair dismissal claim) which discouraged thousands of genuine claimants from making claims and caused uproar amongst wronged employees and their unions. Eventually, following a case in the Supreme Court, the fees regime was deemed unlawful and it was subsequently scrapped, so we reverted to a system which is free at the point of use.

One of the consequences of such a system is that it enables unmeritorious claims to be made. Some people have made a career in ‘unmeritoriousness’.