Hmmm, I thought I posted a reply on here. I guess I didn't hit 'post' Anyhow, here's how it went down. I had a review hearing on last week. I had asked for a review hearing, because in October I had withdrawn my initial discrimination claim (due to stress). My employers made an application to dismiss under rule 25(4). My solicitor contested the 25(4), but the judge had made the ruling to dismiss before my solicitor's argument was put in front of her. In addition I submitted a second ET case, this time for victimisation. As I was put on redundancy notice, (and was the only one in the redundancy pool) my solicitor and I were poised to submit an unfair dismissal claim. My solicitor asked my employer's solicitor about the details of the voluntary redundancy. Employer's solicitor had no clue what my solicitor was on about. HR never bothered to ask / consult their solicitor about making me redundant. My solicitor told my employer's solicitor the details of my pending redundancy. My solicitor stated that I am willing to walk away and sign a compromise agreement for £XX,XXX The next day the employer's solicitor came back and said that my employer could only offer 63% of £XX,XXX. My solicitor indicated that is was a "pretty good" settlement and that we could probably push for a little more, but not much. I said that I would agree to 63% of £XX,XXX NET -- and if that there was any tax liability that they would have to pony up more to get me to exactly 63% of £XX,XXX. So the NET amount was agreed in principle by my employer's solicitor BUT..... My employer wasn't responsible for the payout, their insurance company is paying out. So suddenly my solicitor and my employer's solicitor were suddenly both on the same side negotiating with the tight-wad insurance company. What a con this is? No wonder companies never learn and keep discriminating, they are not paying out themselves. Their insurance companies are doing all the paying out! So the morning of the review hearing we heard back from the insurance company who approved the 63% of £XX,XXX, NET. My solicitor lives outside of London so since the Compromise Agreement was already agreed she didn't come down for the review hearing. The CA was emailed to my solicitor. She reviewd it over and told me over the phone that I was OK to sign it. I arrived at the tribunal. The respondent had brought their solicitor and posh barrister as well as 6 bundles?!?! Bundles for a review hearing? I never heard of that. I initially panicked, thinking what if this goes t*ts up and I end up in court without a solicitor having to defend my case? To my relief It all went smoothly. Whilst my solicitor was on the mobile with me I signed the CA in the presence of the barrister and solicitor. My solicitor emailed over the her certificate and then everything was finalised. I still had to go in front of the judge to tell him verbally that I was withdrawing the review of my first case and the entirety of my second case. The judge said that he would have ruled to put aside my dismissal in my first case, but since a CA had been reached there were a few points of law that needed to be tidied up. (After he said tat I had wondered for a millisecond if I had settled too soon) The judge was very, very nice and very accommodating. He seemed almost giddy that we reached a CA. As we left the court room he stated that he was pleased to have another hour back in his day! Over the course of her many phone calls to my employer's solicitor, my solicitor became very friendly with the employment's solicitor. My employer's solicitor let slip that my employer's legal bill was in excess of £60,000. Crikey! I wonder how much it would have been had we'd gone to tribunal?!? I'm guessing that similar to my settlement, the legal fees, too, will be paid by the insurance company. I really, really hope their premiums go up next year! Although there were doubts about my solicitor, in the end, she closed the deal and that's the most important part for me. I paid a flat rate of £1,500 in legal fees. There is no percentage of fees that I have to pay out so I get to keep every penny of my settlement. Not bad for a £1,500 investment. And to boot my solicitor gets an additional £450 from my employer for the CA. I'm glad it's over and I'm happy I got my life back. I guess if there are life lesons to be learned, here's what I took from this experience: People are fundamentally flawed and so is HR and some HR practices. Document EVERYTHING regarding your case. Do not withdraw your case for any reason. I did it for stress, but it was ultimately MORE stressful withdrawing and having to deal with the 25(4) rule. Once you initiate an ET claim, start looking for another job. Don't wait until the last minute. It helps to talk to people going through the process as well. I have 2 girlfriends who are also knee deep in their ET cases Have the facts to back up your case. Be selfish. At a certain point, you have to concede defeat in that you probably won't ever change a discriminatory department, boss or practice - but you can get compensation for the horrible experience you went through Have faith that things will go right. Kindness, dignity at work and respect cost nothing. It astounds me that employers would pay tens of thousands fighting you in court, rather than changing their attitude at work. I'd like to thank everyone here on this forum for their kindness and support. I hope I never HAVE TO post here again. Over + Out. GP

A settlement has been agreed in principle. Going to the tribunal this morning. Hopefully the details will be ironed before we face the judge. Strangely enough, my employers solicitors were never told that I am in the midst undergoing the redundancy process. My solicitor had to inform them and they were as equally shocked. Settlement talks began very shortly after that. That can't be typical, can it?

I have sadly miscarried again.

My solicitor is not working on a contingency basis. She is working on a flat fee and will not get a percentage of a payout (should I get one) My employer has given me the following choices: Redundancy, Voluntary Redundancy, be hired by another department.

Brief update: Submitted a new ET1 for Victimisation last month. Going to tribunal next week for a review hearing. Applied for a new job at a better company that pays £10K more and I got it Went to hand in my notice but before I could hand my boss the resignation letter, he told me that my post was being made redundant. I'm the only person in the redundancy pool. He insists my redundancy has NOTHING to do with past grievances. Yeah.... right... My solicitor advised me to quit and claim constructive dismissal. I'm not sure I want to go down that road. I think I just want to get a payout and leave. Any opinons?

I have a new claim to the ET which is quite detailed. I require more space than is allowed on the ET1 PDF which submits digitally How does one deal with this?.

My employment lawyer doesn't seem very knowledgeable about withdrawals. This seems odd. I have been asking for weeks. It may be a sign that I need to change lawyers. I don't have a CA. An offer has been put on the table. Thanks.

The judge dismissed upon withdrawal after respondents applied for 25(4) to be applied. Respondents gave us 7 days to contest the 25(4) but the judge made the judgement before the 7 days were over- and before our application to contest 25(4) was received. I'm just trying to figure out who I should write to sort this out. i

When the case has been dismissed, then the are no upcoming court appearance to point out the error

OK, thanks. But what if I'm just asking for the judgement to be reviewed due to an administrative error.

Hello, I would like to write to the tribunal to ask them to review a judgement that has been made. Do I write to the EAT or the ET in order to do so? Thanks, GP

Ok, thanks for the advice. I understand what you're saying but... After nearly 18 months of having little work to do, I wouldn't say I've lost the moral high ground, especially after the way I've been discriminated against. I feel that in many ways I'm sharpening my technical skills and I'm learning, which is the best part. But perhaps I should do online training instead?

I'd rather look busy than have no work.

I am currently employed. I submitted an ET1 and had case management. I withdrew due to stress. Respondent applied to get my case dismissed under 25(4) but this was not allowed, (I think). "Case was dismissed upon withdrawal." So my solicitor and I are submitting a new ET1 with new details this week. Last week my company offered me a settlement of £9.5K (net) and if I agreed it would be a part of compromise agreement and I would leave the company. To further complicate the issue, I told HR about my intentions of going on maternity leave next year. And that I couldn't possibly contemplate leaving the company if it meant giving up my enhanced maternity pay. My enhanced maternity pay comes to £15K during my maternity leave. So a few days later they upped their offer to £17.K (net). Even though they are being *******s to me at work... from a financial standpoint I would rather stay another 7 or so months and rack 7-months salary, then go on maternity leave and get my £15K, then come back 1 year later and go back on my £50K salary. I would rather do that then settle for £17.5K or even £20K

My solicitor thinks that I am likely to get a few thousand more pounds and that I should be happy with £20K. I would not be happy with £20K if it means that I am giving up a £50K job. Should the case go forward. My solicitor has put together a schedule of loss for £20K.

The status of my case... We went to CMD. I withdrew, due to stress. I am re-submitting this week and including victimisation in my claim. So essentially the legal process will start again.

OK, understood. But any tips other than that?

I have been offered a settlement. The settlement requires a "mutually agreeable departure." I am on a salary of £50K. Initially the settlement was for £9,500. I counter-offered with £65K. They in turn have offerend £17.5K. They say the £17.5K is their 'final offer not open to negotiations.' A question for the solicitors: How often are these 'final' offers actually final? Also, I am drafting a letter to HR to reject their offer and couter offer once again. Would someone here advise on this letter? Is there anything I should leave out or add in? Dear HR, I have declined the meeting you have set up with me to discuss this matter. The settlement you have put forward is not finically viable for my situation. I, of course, would fare better, staying employed until my maternity leave then returning to the company one year later, whilst concurrently seeking justice in the employment tribunal. Additionally, my solicitor advises me that there is new litigation to be submitted to the Tribunal this week. That being said, your initial offer of £9,500 net being increased by £8,000 - now up to £17,500 net - tells me that a reasonable settlement, agreeable to both of us, is highly possible. With that in mind I am decreasing my initial request (£62,937.61 net) by £20,999.99, now down to £41,937.62 net. In addition I am also asking for a satisfactory reference. In the spirit of an amicable negotiation I sincerely hope that it is possible for you to reconsider your ‘final’ offer. If this is not possible, then I suppose we will proceed ‘as normal.’ Kind regards, Disgruntled Employee Thanks, GP

Hello, I wou1d just like your opinon about withdrawing and re-submitting ET1s. (I did post something similar in my original thread, but no one replied) On or about 14/05/12 an act of discrimnation happened which lead me to raise a grievance. (I did not realize that act of discrimination happened on that date until after I got the grievance investigation results.) On 25/05/12 I raised a grievance. On 12/06/12 I had a grievance meeting On 26/06/12 I filed an ET1 On 12/07/12 I received the results of the grievance investigation. New info came to light. On 22/07/12 I appealed the grievance On 18/08/12 I had my grievance appeal On 31/08/12 I had my CMD On 11/08/12 I received the results of the appeal investigation - some of which contradicts the orginal investigation. New info came to light. If I withdraw my original ET1 and Submit a new one will I be out of time? or is it adviseable to submit a second ET1 with the new information. Thanks, GP

I got my grievance appeal results back this morning and it, not surprisingly, found in the company's favour. The grievance appeal investigation brought to light that some of the points made in the original grievance investigations were "misrepresentations" or as I call them lies. HR admitted to having very bad management, very bad communication and not providing me with the crucial training I needed - but they categorically denied that there was race discrimination involved whatsoever. Despite them saying that there's been no race discrimination, they have decided to roll out diversity sensitivity training to all of management and HR starting next week. They have also decided to revise the equal opportunity policy - 2 things 7 things I directly stated I wanted in my ET1. If they're so sure there wasn't any race discrimination, then why bother with the training? In light of the new information which came out as a result of my appeal, my solicitor suggests withdrawing the original ET1 and simultaneously submitting a new one with the new details. My solicitor said that I should have waited until grievance procedure ended to file the ET1 but I did so because I did not want to be out of time. The "last straw event" of my ET1 was that I was overlooked for a promotion. This happened in somewhere between end of March and Mid-may. If I submit a new ET1 based on the grievance appeal results does this mean I am not out of time for the issue of the promotion? Opinions, please?

Thanks orfoster, I am back with solicitor 1. She has returned from the funeral and there have been no issues since then.

I'm so sorry to hear about your bullying. A very good mate of mine is going through the same thing now, except that she's been threatened with the sack. How long have you been in your contract?

Excuse my typos in my last post. I'm on my iPad. Solicitor 1 has agreed to a substantial fee reduction should this go on to the trubunal. She feels terrible for the situation, however her father died suddenly. She also acknowledges that finding a replacement for her did not come cheaply for me. She has offered to handle my tribunal case on a flat fee basis, discounting her usual rate by 60%. I have not paid solicitor 2. She and the trainee barrister have yet to bill me.

It's definitely worth considering. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with having to start from scratch agai . Mwhp / what do you suggest?

CMD was today. 2 days ago my solicitor's father died so she couldn't represent me until after the funeral. She works independently so no other solicitors could fill in. I asked the tribumal judge for an adjournment but she told me to come in unrepresented or find someone else from my solicitor's firm. My solicitor works independently. There is no, "firm," per se. How unfair is that? The only reason the judge did not allow the adjournment was because the respondants had objected. I contacted another solicitor who said she would step in (at 3 times the price of my original solicitor). But I didn't want to go it alone, so I was prepared to pay. I spoke with the other solicitor at length who offered to take the whole case on a no win, no fee contingency - or work something else out for me. I seemed happy with that. Then yesterday the 2nd solicitor called me and said she had an emergency child care situation and couldn't represent me at the CMD. She advised that the best solution at this point was for her to instruct a barrister for me, but that it would probably cost me £800 plus VAT. At that point I considered representing myself. I had a Skype call with my original solicitor and she told me what to say at the CMD. Not feeling totally confident, I contacted BarristersDirect and asked if they had any barristers who could represent me today - and if they could give me a deal. I got the barrister's clerk to knock a couple hundred off the price. I spoke with the barrister who to,d me to meet him 1 hour before my hearing. I felt a bit skeptical that he didn't want to see any of my paperwork before hand - as there are a lot of documents. Shortly after I got off the phone with the Barrister, Solicitor 2 said that she found a trainee barrister who would work at a reduced rate. So I went with Barrister 2 and cancelled Barrister 1. The CMD went very well, even though Barrister 2 was a trainee, she was excellent. I can't say enough positive things about her. The judge has ordered the tribunal to start in mid December to last 7 days! Both the respondent and I are pushing For Judicial Mediation. Now I need to figure out if I want to use solicitor 2 or solicitor 1. Will have a think over the weekend.