Ms B Sullivan v Computershare Investor Services plc — 2021

At the preliminary hearing on 4 November 2021, Ms B Sullivan pursued a single unfair dismissal claim arising from her redundancy dismissal by Computershare Investor Services PLC. The tribunal was asked to decide whether the claim had been presented in time, and if not whether it was reasonably practicable for it to have been presented in time and, if so, whether it had then been brought within a reasonable further period. The tribunal identified three factual issues: whether the effective date of termination was 31 July 2020 or 10 August 2020, whether the ET1 was presented on 3 or 4 January 2021, and whether the later acceptance of the claim on 17 April 2021 mattered.

The tribunal held that the effective date of termination was 31 July 2020, as stated in the dismissal letter dated 6 July 2020. It applied s.97(1) Employment Rights Act 1996 and held that notice expiry governed the effective date of termination even if the notice given was shorter than any contractual or statutory entitlement. The tribunal referred to Robert Cort and Sons v Charman and Feltham Management Ltd v Feltham and others in support of that conclusion. On that basis, the primary limitation period expired on 30 October 2020, before the ACAS early conciliation period began on 6 November 2020.

The tribunal also found that the claim was out of time whether it was treated as presented on 3 or 4 January 2021, and it assumed for the purposes of the hearing that it was received on 4 January 2021 rather than on 17 April 2021, when the tribunal finally accepted it after the claimant clarified that she was bringing an unfair dismissal claim. On reasonable practicability, the tribunal accepted that the claimant had been dealing with her appeal, work searches, and then a demanding job at Amazon, but found that she had had assistance from her trade union and legal advice and that there was no impediment to her contacting ACAS or presenting the claim in time. The tribunal therefore held that it had no jurisdiction to hear the claim and dismissed it as presented out of time.