Mrs P Horsnall v Staffordshire County Council — 2019

The claimant was dismissed with effect from 11 October 2018 after a long period of sickness absence. She contacted ACAS in January 2019 and presented her ET1 on 31 January 2019, outside the three-month time limit for unfair dismissal. The preliminary hearing was concerned only with whether the tribunal had jurisdiction to consider the unfair dismissal complaint; disability discrimination matters were not determined in this judgment.

The tribunal found that the claimant knew by May 2018 that dismissal was possible and had access to several sources of advice and support, including a trade union representative, a solicitor, her son and her husband. It found that she had opportunities to find out about her rights and that she had contemplated legal recourse, including making a without prejudice settlement offer and discussing going to court.

The tribunal rejected the argument that waiting for the ill-health retirement process justified the delay. It found that the ill-health retirement procedures were not directly relevant to the dismissal time limit, and that even after the claimant said she learned about ACAS on 28 December 2018 there was no good reason for further delay. The unfair dismissal claim was dismissed because it was out of time and the tribunal had no jurisdiction to hear it.