Are you sitting comfortably? Ian Smith delves into three cases, including employment lawyers being advised not to indulge in fairy stories…
In brief
- Dismissal on suspicion—a procedural caveat.
- Efforts to find alternative employment—chance of a job insufficient.
- ET Pleadings—warning to parties not to use a ‘narrative style’.
‘Are you sitting comfortably? Then, I’ll begin. Once upon a time there was a clever and brave employee with a wicked stepmother/employer, who once said to them ...’. At this point, Her Honour Judge Tucker descends ex cathedra with a mighty, ‘STOP ! I don’t want a fairy story, I want to know what this damned case is about’.
This is a rather rough précis of the third case considered here, in which the learned judge told employment lawyers in no uncertain terms that they should cease and desist from the hitherto growing tendency to draft ET1 and ET3 forms in ‘narrative form’ bearing more resemblance to a witness statement than a statement of case; instead they should concentrate on making
