Mrs S Pryor v Cambian Childcare Limited — 2020

Mrs Pryor brought a sole Equality Act complaint of disability-related harassment arising from an alleged exchange with a colleague, CH, in July or August 2018. She said CH had referred to colleagues as dyslexic and then dismissed her when she disclosed that she also had dyslexia. The tribunal noted that the complaint had first been raised in a grievance in November 2018 and later in an appeal in February 2019.

The hearing was limited to time limit issue. The tribunal accepted that the alleged interchange could potentially cross the harassment threshold under the Equality Act, but held that the complaint had been presented outside the three-month limit. In deciding whether it was just and equitable to extend time, the tribunal took into account the delay, the fact that the claimant had union advice and representation, the need for certainty in time limits, and the claimant's ability to have known that she could bring the complaint earlier. It considered those factors outweighed the reasons advanced by the claimant.

The tribunal therefore dismissed the harassment complaint as out of time. The judgment records the alleged comments as background to the claimant's unfair dismissal complaint, but no remedy was awarded in this judgment because the Equality Act claim did not proceed.