Mr S Quinn v Asda Stores Limited — 2020

The tribunal determined a preliminary issue about whether the claimant's unfair dismissal claim, presented on 30 July 2020, could proceed despite being out of time. It found that the claimant had no awareness of the time limits for bringing an unfair dismissal claim or of the tribunal procedure, and had wrongly believed he should wait until the respondent's two-stage internal appeal process had concluded.

The tribunal found that after dismissal the claimant asked his trade union shop steward what he should do next and was advised to go through the two-stage appeal process. It also accepted that the claimant was affected by the dismissal, his caring responsibilities for his wife, and anxiety and depression, while continuing to hope that the appeal would result in reinstatement. Although he could have researched tribunal time limits earlier, the tribunal concluded that in the circumstances it was not unreasonable for him to defer investigating a possible unfair dismissal claim until the final appeal outcome.

Once the second appeal was rejected by letter dated 23 July 2020, the claimant and his wife researched the position, notified ACAS on 28 July 2020, received the early conciliation certificate on 30 July 2020, and presented the claim the same day. The tribunal held that it had not been reasonably practicable to present the claim in time and that it was presented within a reasonable further period, so the claim would proceed to a final hearing.