Ms Rita Mehta v Lowell Financial Ltd Heard by: CVP — 2021

Ms Rita Mehta had been employed by Lowell Financial Ltd since November 2006 as a collections team leader. At the preliminary hearing on 1 March 2021, Employment Judge Wedderspoon dealt with limitation only. The respondent accepted that the claimant had a disability at the relevant time, described as a physical impairment of hip dysplasia, osteoporosis and arthritis from January 2016. The claimant resigned on 2 March 2020 and issued her ET1 on 27 July 2020, which the tribunal treated as out of time for the claims before it.

On the unfair dismissal complaint, the tribunal applied section 111 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and found that it had been reasonably practicable for the claimant to present the claim in time. It did not accept her evidence that trade union representative Mr Gulati had told her she had six months to issue proceedings. The tribunal found her account inconsistent and unsatisfactory, noted that she had not disclosed the texts and emails she said supported that account, and took account of the support available to her from her legally qualified sister, another adviser, and her own access to a computer and the internet. ACAS conciliation had taken place before the resignation, so it did not extend time.

On the discrimination complaint, the tribunal applied section 123 of the Equality Act 2010 and decided it was not just and equitable to extend time. It accepted that the claimant had mental health difficulties, was on antidepressant medication, and had periods of both improvement and deterioration, but found no direct medical evidence that she could not engage with tribunal proceedings between March and July 2020. The tribunal also noted the nearly two-month delay and the fact that some of the matters relied on went back to 2016. For those reasons, the discrimination claim was dismissed for want of jurisdiction.