Mr Karl Cordwell v DHL Services Ltd PRELIMINARY HEARING — 2023

Mr Karl Cordwell, a DHL Services Ltd HGV Class 1 Driver, brought a claim presented on 1 March 2023 after ACAS early conciliation. The tribunal treated the pleaded case as a health and safety detriment complaint under section 44 ERA 1996 arising from SLAM near-miss reporting. At hearings on 12 May 2023 and 30 June 2023, the claimant sought to amend the claim, first to add an allegation about a separate box for his SLAM reports and then through a 21-page Amended Grounds of Complaint which re-framed the case as protected disclosure detriments under section 47B ERA 1996 and added further alleged detriments and disclosures.

Applying Rule 29 and the Selkent and Vaughan guidance, the tribunal refused both amendment applications. It held that the proposed amendments were not mere relabelling but significantly expanded the factual and legal scope of the case, introduced new allegations, and would require additional witnesses and investigation. The tribunal also held that both amendment applications were out of time and that the prejudice to the respondent outweighed the prejudice to the claimant.

On the existing section 44 complaint, the tribunal accepted the claimant's earlier account that the last detriment was a statement by a respondent employee that he would be removed from driving duties if he continued to raise SLAM reports, which he placed in June or July 2022. It found that the ET1 was therefore presented outside the three-month time limit, that the ACAS early conciliation period beginning on 3 January 2023 did not extend time, and that it was reasonably practicable for the claim to have been presented in time. The claimant had not filed a witness statement or given any explanation for the delay, despite directions to address his knowledge of tribunal time limits, any advice from Unite, grievance history, and any health conditions affecting presentation of the claim. The detriment complaint was struck out for want of jurisdiction.