Mrs K Mills, Lay Representative For the v Respondent — 2021

This was a preliminary hearing limited to time limitation. The claimant, Miss J Atkin, was dismissed by Cornwall Council for gross misconduct with effect from 1 November 2019 following allegations about breach of the Lifeline call handling procedure. She appealed, but the appeal was rejected and the outcome letter was dated 2 March 2020. The claim was presented on 3 April 2020 after early conciliation began on 30 March 2020.

The tribunal found that the unfair dismissal claim was out of time under section 111(2) ERA 1996. It held that the effective date of termination was 1 November 2019 and that the three-month time limit expired at midnight on 30 January 2020. Because the ACAS early conciliation process did not begin until 30 March 2020, section 207B did not give the claimant any extension of time.

The tribunal also rejected the argument that it was not reasonably practicable to present the claim in time. It found that the claimant was not prevented from issuing proceedings by ill-health, ignorance of the process, bad advice, or any misrepresentation by the respondent. The tribunal accepted that she preferred to wait for the appeal outcome and was hopeful of reinstatement, but held that this did not satisfy the statutory test.

In a further alternative finding, the tribunal held that even if the primary time limit had been disapplied, the claimant did not issue proceedings within such further period as was reasonable after the appeal outcome on 2 March 2020. The claim was therefore dismissed as presented out of time.