Mr Bryan Goodes v Numatic International Limited — 2020

At a preliminary hearing on 5 March 2020, Employment Judge Fowell decided two preliminary issues: whether Mr Bryan Goodes had brought the claim in time and whether he was a disabled person for Equality Act 2010 purposes. The tribunal found that the unfair dismissal complaint was presented outside the ordinary time limit, but accepted that Mr Goodes had relied on an ACAS email stating that he would have a "minimum one calendar month" to submit the claim. The judge held that the wording was wrong but not obviously so, and that it was not reasonably practicable for Mr Goodes to present the claim within the ordinary period.

The tribunal then considered whether the claim was lodged within such further period as was reasonable. It accepted Mr Goodes' evidence that his new job, his pain and medication regime, and his wife's illness affected his ability to complete the claim form, and that he had been working on it over successive weekends. On that basis, the judge found that the claim had been submitted within a reasonable further period and was in time. For the disability discrimination complaint, the tribunal applied the just and equitable test for extending time and reached the same conclusion, so that complaint was also treated as in time.

On disability, the tribunal accepted that Mr Goodes had a long-standing knee impairment that caused recurrent pain over a number of years, requiring medication and affecting walking, driving, work, recreation and socialising. The judge preferred the evidence of Mr Goodes' GP to the occupational health view, and held that the impairment had a substantial adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities. The tribunal therefore found that Mr Goodes was disabled for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 at all material times. No substantive liability findings or remedy were made in this judgment.