An employment claim against a leading personal injury firm will resume after the complainant showed she was not aware of a hearing date.

Regional Employment Judge Robertson cancelled his decision to set aside the claim against Yorkshire firm Minster Law after finding that the claimant, named as Miss K Wright, had not necessarily been aware of when her hearing was happening.

The judge stressed his reconsideration decision said nothing about the likely outcome of the case but that Wright should have another chance to argue her side.

The claimant pursues complaints of unfair dismissal, unlawful disability discrimination and unpaid wages. The tribunal heard the proceedings have a lengthy history during which Wright has repeatedly not complied with case management orders and on at least occasion has not attended a hearing.

Robertson ordered last April that Wright should comply with case management orders or face her claim being dismissed. When the 14-day deadline for meeting these orders was missed, Minster Law contended she had not complied with an unless order, and the tribunal dismissed her claim.

Wright effectively made an application to set aside the unless order and was given a hearing date for October 2020. She had this postponed due to being required to self-isolate, and the hearing was postponed for November – except Wright then missed this hearing as well, and the case was thrown out, with the claimant ordered to pay Minster Law £900 in costs.

The claimant said she did not receive notice of the November hearing as she did not have access to her emails at the relevant time. The tribunal heard that Wright had asked twice to have correspondence posted to her.

Robertson said he was ‘unimpressed’ with the claimant’s failure to resolve email issues, but could not be satisfied she had received the hearing date through the post.

He added: ‘It seems to me reasonable for the claimant to expect that the tribunal would communicate with her in the way she had requested, and not to be actively checking her emails in such circumstances.’ Notice of the re-listed hearing will be sent by email and post.