Wasted Costs Against Representative

[Thanks to James Medhurst of Employment Law Advocates for preparing this case summary]

The EAT (Underhill P) has handed down its decision in Jackson v Cambridgeshire County Council, which is a case with extraordinary facts, including the covert recording of the private deliberations of the tribunal.

An order for wasted costs against the representative concerned was overturned on the grounds that the tribunal did not properly address his case that he was not acting in pursuit of profit. He was representing a family member and so there was no a priori reason to believe that he might be acting in pursuit of profit. In those circumstances, the tribunal needed solid grounds for a finding to the contrary. The fact that he was an unreliable witness in other respects was not sufficient.

The representative had made a complaint to the Regional Employment Judge about the Employment Judge hearing the case and had supported his complaint with transcripts of the unlawful recording, which he denied having made himself. He quoted selectively from the recording and it was found that he then destroyed it. He also engaged in correspondence described as "arrogant and bullying" and posted material attacking the respondent on Facebook. Unsurprisingly, there was no challenge to the conclusion that his conduct had been unreasonable.