Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Latest NewsEmployment lawHR strategyKnowledge managementEmployment tribunals

Serial litigants could be stopped by HR sharing knowledge of suspicious claims

by Lindsay Clark 6 Mar 2009
by Lindsay Clark 6 Mar 2009

A London-based solicitor is calling on the HR community to stop serial litigants making money from out-of-court settlements by sharing information about suspicious tribunal claims.

Gordon Turner, a solicitor at Partners Employment Lawyers, warned that the Tribunals Service was not doing enough to stop the problem after acting on behalf of a small recruitment business specialising in placing recent graduates.

The firm received an tribunal claim alleging that the phrase ‘recent graduate’ in a job advertisement was indirectly discriminatory.

“There was no record of the applicant applying for any job or any pre-action letter,” said Turner.

After lodging the firm’s defence,  Turner received an e–mail offering to “drop the whole thing” for a sum of money, while at the same time threatening to forward details of the claim to regulatory bodies and the media.

“Alarm bells began to ring,” Turner said.

After checking the Register of Decisions at the Employment Tribunal Office in Bury St Edmunds, Turner found at least 15 such claims had been dealt with, all of them dismissed or struck out on the basis that the claimant had not even applied for the position in the first place.When confronted with this data the claimant owned up to “under 50“ similar claims.

Records revealed the claimant had applied for jobs in architecture, mobile telecommunications, translation, and “dance examination“, with claims lodged attribunal offices throughout England.

Turner said: “The system should be able to identify 50 claims by one person as a potential problem.“

Despite this, the Tribunal Service said there were no plans to publish claims online. Firms must call the Bury St Edmunds office with the name of the claimant and regions where they are likely to have submitted a claim if they want to find out if an individual has a history of bringing claims against several employers.

In December 2008, serial litigant Margaret Keane accused 22 companies of ageism, earning up to £100,000.

Turner’s case can be viewed at the Tribunal Register Case No. 3302218/2008. Turner is willing to share his findings with readers to prevent what appears to be an abuse of the system.

For further details contact Gordon Turner on [email protected]

The Bury St Edmunds Tribunal Office can be reached on: 01284 701284.

Avatar
Lindsay Clark

previous post
Women’s rights group claims unfair impact of recession proves need for quotas
next post
Redundancies pose more mental health risks for men

You may also like

‘It’s International HR Day – wait, you didn’t...

20 May 2022

Policeman dubbed ‘Dolly Parton’ for working Nine to...

20 May 2022

Adapt culture to hybrid work: do not force...

20 May 2022

Women in FTSE 350 leadership: ‘A lot of...

20 May 2022

City firms pledge to improve social mobility in...

20 May 2022

Squishy, flabby, foggy HR? Andrew Bartlow talks to...

20 May 2022

Movers and shakers May 2022: John Lewis and...

20 May 2022

City workers desert offices in favour of hybrid...

20 May 2022

Working from home statistics show three-fold increase

20 May 2022

Statutory sick pay reforms would save £4bn

19 May 2022
  • Apprenticeships are the solution to your recruitment problems PROMOTED | Apprenticeships have the pulling power...Read more
  • What it really means to be mentally fit PROMOTED | What is mental fitness...Read more
  • How music can help to ease anxiety at work PROMOTED | A lot has happened since March 2020, hasn’t it?...Read more
  • Why now is the time to plug the unhealthy gap PROMOTED | We’ve all heard the term ‘health is wealth’...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+