Mrs Victoria Simmons v Yapton School C/O Kim Huggett The claimant’s application for reconsideration is granted and the claim form is accepted with effect from 14 January 2021. — 2021

Mrs Victoria Simmons originally presented her claim on 9 December 2020, but it was rejected on 13 January 2021 because no ACAS early conciliation details had been included. She resubmitted the claim on 14 January 2021 with an early conciliation number, but the claim was again rejected when the tribunal noted that the name on the certificate and the claim form did not match.

On reconsideration, Employment Judge Cadney held that the original rejection had been correct because the first submission did not provide an ACAS early conciliation number. However, he accepted that when the claimant resubmitted the claim she had made an error by using her husband's name, as he was going to represent her. The judge noted that the claimant and her husband shared the same surname and address, and that the respondent would have been able to identify the claimant as the employee concerned.

The judge decided that it would not be in the interests of justice to reject the claim, because doing so would prevent the claimant from pursuing it. The decision to reject was therefore wrong, and the claim should have been accepted on 14 January 2021. The judge also said that, even if that view were wrong, the claimant had rectified the defect on 4 March 2021 and the claim would in any event have been accepted on that date.