United Kingdom Employment Appeal Tribunal

APPEARANCES

 

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


 


MR RECORDER UNDERHILL QC

1. This is the Preliminary Hearing of an appeal against the decision of an Employment Tribunal at London Central, promulgated on 29 March 2001, dismissing the Appellant's claim for racial discrimination on the basis that the Tribunal had no jurisdiction. The complaint was of victimisation in relation to a post-employment reference. The Tribunal in its decision followed the well known decision of the Court of Appeal in Adekeye v The Post Office [1997] IRLR 105.
2. The Appellant has not appeared today. We have seen the note of a telephone conversation this morning in which she makes various complaints about what she has been told or not been told by the staff of this Tribunal and asks for an adjournment.
3. It seems to us however that that aspect need not be considered in detail and that an adjournment would be unnecessary and wasteful for all concerned, for the following reason. We are aware that the question of whether the decision in Adekeye was correct is the subject of a pending appeal to the House of Lords in the case of D'Souza v The London Borough of Lambeth. We have no present information as to when the appeal will be heard; but, as we say, it is pending and will come on for hearing presumably at some time in the next few months. It would be pointless for this appeal to proceed any further until the decision of the House of Lords in D'Souza is known.
4. In those circumstances we believe that the only just course is to stay all further proceedings in this appeal. When the decision in D'Souza has been reported it will be open to the Appellant to apply to have the stay lifted if the result is favourable to her. The precise procedure to be followed if the result is unfavourable is for consideration but in any view the appeal would not be dismissed without her being given the opportunity to make representations.
5. We therefore direct a stay accordingly. A copy of this decision should of course be sent to the Respondents.