Ms D Morrissey v Barclays Bank UK plc — 2025

The claimant brought complaints of pregnancy or maternity discrimination and direct sex discrimination about not being given the opportunity to apply for a permanent Operational Manager role after she had been seconded into that role before taking maternity leave. The respondent said the outcome arose from a 2022 restructure rule under which employees seconded for more than 12 months as at 1 April 2022 were pooled, where necessary, in their seconded roles rather than substantive roles.

The Tribunal found that the alleged discriminatory act was a one-off decision from early 2022 with continuing consequences, rather than conduct extending over a period. The complaints were therefore presented outside the statutory time limit. The Tribunal did not decide the merits of the discrimination complaints and considered it inappropriate to assess the fact-based merits without the full evidence.

The Tribunal accepted that the claimant delayed issuing proceedings because she was trying to resolve the matter through the respondent's internal grievance procedure, after looking at gov.uk information and speaking to ACAS, and that she did not know about tribunal time limits until after the grievance appeal outcome. It found the grievance process had been very lengthy, that the claimant acted promptly once told about time limits, and that the prejudice to the claimant if time was not extended outweighed the prejudice to the respondent. Time was extended on just and equitable grounds, so the complaints could proceed.