Mrs R Parkin v Mr M Fieldhouse — 2019

This was an open preliminary hearing in Mrs R Parkin v Mr M Fieldhouse. The tribunal dealt only with limitation and the proposed addition of Unite the Union as a respondent. It recorded that the claimant contacted Mr Fieldhouse on 9 April 2018, received his 25 April 2018 letter refusing union legal assistance on 27 April 2018, and presented the ET1 on 12 September 2018. Applying sections 123 and 140B of the Equality Act 2010, the tribunal held that the claim was 11 days late on the statutory calculation, because the limit expired on 1 September 2018 after early conciliation.

The tribunal then considered whether it would be just and equitable to extend time, referring to section 33(3) of the Limitation Act 1980 and British Coal Corporation v Keeble and Others. It accepted that the claimant had significant mental health difficulties during the limitation period, including a crisis in May 2018, and treated that as a substantial explanation for the slight delay. It also found that the respondent would not suffer evidential prejudice from an 11-day delay. On that basis, the tribunal extended time to the date of presentation and held that it had jurisdiction to determine the Equality Act complaint.

The tribunal also allowed the claimant's application to join Unite the Union as a respondent. It noted that Unite had appeared in the ET1 materials and that the ACAS certificate named both Mr Fieldhouse and Unite. The judge said the complaint concerned the refusal of legal advice and representation in the 25 April 2018 letter, not the later internal complaint outcome of 10 August 2018. No substantive finding was made on discrimination liability, and the tribunal did not decide whether the claimant was disabled within the Equality Act 2010.