Appeal No.	 EAT/578/97

EMPLOYMENT APPEAL TRIBUNAL
58 VICTORIA EMBANKMENT, LONDON EC4Y 0DS

	At the Tribunal
	On 23 October 1997

Before
THE HONOURABLE LORD JOHNSTON
MRS E HART
MR A E R MANNERS

DR A ANSARI	APPELLANT

MRS J BOULTON	RESPONDENT

Transcript of Proceedings

JUDGMENT

PRELIMINARY HEARING - EX PARTE

Revised

	APPEARANCES

For the Appellant	NO APPEARANCE BY OR ON BEHALF OF THE APPELLANT	

	LORD JOHNSTON:   This is the judgment of the tribunal in relation to a preliminary hearing in the appeal by Dr Ansari, appellant against Mrs J Boulton. This case called before us in relation to a preliminary hearing on the grounds of appeal advanced by the employer in respect of a finding in the Industrial Tribunal that the employee had been unfairly dismissed. Despite strenuous attempts to ascertain whether the appellant or his representatives were in building, there was no appearance nor any communication to this office that there was a reason why there was no appearance. Given the fact that we commenced consideration of this case at 11.58 a.m., it being scheduled for 10.30 a.m., we felt able to deal the matter in absentia.

	That we can do with considerable brevity. The papers disclose upon the evidence as found by the tribunal that, to put it mildly, the employee was treated extremely badly by the employer; that there was ample material before the tribunal to conclude that she was constructively if not actually dismissed; the attempt by the appellant at this stage to complain about the fact that he was not allowed to introduce new evidence was quite competently and quite properly dealt with by the lower tribunal, in as much that every opportunity was available to have brought the relevant evidence relating to the meeting with which it was concerned being crucial to the now appellant’s, then employer’s case, and in our opinion the tribunal acted quite properly in taking the steps that it did.

	Looking at the matter overall, we are therefore firmly of the view that this case discloses no question of law suitable for consideration by the Employment Appeal Tribunal, and the application will be dismissed.