Case 1404823/2020 · Employment Tribunal
Ms Janusz, Legal Consultant For the First v Bidvest Noonan (UK) Ltd and Mr G Rowley — 2021
- Case reference
- 1404823/2020
- Decision date
- 5 October 2021
- Jurisdiction
- England & Wales
Parties
2 namedClaimant
Ms Janusz, Legal Consultant For the First
Respondent
Key findings
Tribunal's reasoningThis was a preliminary hearing on limitation only. The claimant, Ms Justyna Blazewicz, brought a harassment claim based on sexual harassment against Bidvest Noonan (UK) Ltd and Mr Gareth Rowley. The tribunal recorded that the alleged conduct ran between November 2019 and 10 February 2020, with one incident on 20 January 2020 admitted by the first respondent. The claimant was employed as a cleaner at IKEA in Exeter from 28 March 2018 until she resigned on 16 October 2020.
The tribunal found that the normal three-month time limit expired at midnight on 9 May 2020, or earlier at midnight on 19 April 2020 if time was measured from the admitted act on 20 January 2020. The claimant contacted ACAS on 10 September 2020 and issued proceedings on 14 September 2020, which the tribunal treated as four or five months out of time. It considered whether it would be just and equitable to extend time under s.123(1)(b) Equality Act 2010.
In deciding that question, the tribunal noted the claimant’s evidence that she had thought time would run only from notification of the grievance outcome, and that she had suffered stress. It also recorded that she had researched tribunal time limits online, obtained specialist legal advice around the end of February 2020, received further advice around the time the grievance outcome was communicated in early August 2020, and then waited about six more weeks before contacting ACAS. The tribunal found that she had not given a satisfactory explanation for the delay.
The tribunal also accepted the first respondent’s submission that it was prejudiced by the delay, including because of the absence of Mr Rowley, who had not responded to the proceedings. Having considered the factors in the authorities it cited, including Keeble, Robertson, Morgan, Jones, Caston, Afolabi and Adedeji, the tribunal concluded that it was not just and equitable to extend time. The claim was therefore dismissed as presented out of time.
Claims and outcomes
1 finding recorded| Claim type | Issue or finding | Outcome | Protected characteristic | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harassment | Dismissed at a preliminary hearing because the claim was presented out of time and the tribunal refused to extend time on a just and equitable basis under s.123 EqA 2010. | Dismissed | Sex | — |
Legal tests applied
6 references- s.123(1)(b) Equality Act 2010 just and equitable extension
- British Coal v Keeble factors
- Robertson v Bexley Community Service no presumption to extend time
- Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Local Health Board v Morgan
- Adedeji v University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
- Chief Constable of Lincolnshire Police v Caston
Official outcome judgment PDF
Gov.uk primary recordThe official judgment PDF on gov.uk contains the tribunal's outcome, reasoning, and any remedy details. Where this page does not yet show extracted outcomes for every claim, use the PDF as the authoritative source.
Published on gov.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
How we got this data
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