Dismissing a case

Case 10: The facts

After bringing a claim of racial discrimination, Dr Abdolreza Ahari applied for the case to be postponed on the grounds of ill health – but did not provide a certificate to confirm his ill health at the time.

The tribunal refused to postpone, and dismissed Ahari’s claim following a hearing in his absence.

The ruling

The Employment Appeal Tribunal noted that a tribunal has wide discretion in deciding whether to postpone a hearing, and found that the tribunal had shown careful reasoning and had looked at all the relevant factors in making its decision in this case.

It held that the tribunal had not erred in refusing the postponement or in dismissing the claim having heard four days of evidence.

Ahari v University of Glasgow & HCI (Scotland) Ltd EATS/0018 & 0053/05