Felix Viegas v Simon Thompson and 6 others — 2024

The claimant was dismissed on 31 August 2023. The tribunal found that the three-month period for presenting an unfair dismissal claim ended on 29 November 2023. The claimant began Acas early conciliation on 30 November 2023, after the primary limitation period had expired, so the Acas provisions did not extend time. The claim was presented on 13 January 2024.

The claimant argued that it had not been reasonably practicable to present the claim in time because of mental health issues, difficulties navigating the process, loss of union support, inability to obtain representation, alleged errors in the Acas notification and ET1, and eviction and debt issues. The tribunal found that there was insufficient medical or other evidence to show that mental health issues made it not reasonably practicable to file the claim in time, and that the other matters relied on did not meet that test.

The tribunal found on the balance of probabilities that the claimant had not shown that it was not reasonably practicable to file within the limitation period, so the claim had to be struck out. The tribunal also stated that, even if the first stage had been satisfied, the claim would still have been dismissed because filing almost a month after the Acas certificate was issued was not within such further period as was reasonable.