Mr A Philpott, of Counsel For the v Respondent — 2020

This was an open preliminary hearing on limitation held on 27 October 2020. Mr M Patel had been employed from 1 November 2009 and was dismissed on redundancy grounds on 18 April 2019 after his contract transferred to DSG Retail Limited on 1 April 2019. The Tribunal accepted that he was disabled at the material times, and it recorded an oral ruling that the pleaded claim form did not include a protected disclosure detriment claim.

The Tribunal held that all claims against the First, Fourth and Fifth Respondents were out of time and dismissed. It found that the matters relied on from March 2018 onwards were a series of individual incidents rather than a continuing course of conduct, and it refused to extend time on a just and equitable basis for the disability discrimination claims. In doing so, it noted that the Claimant had raised grievances, instructed several solicitors, complained to the Legal Ombudsman and filed a detailed ET1, so his mental health difficulties did not make compliance impossible.

Against the Second Respondent, the unfair dismissal claim was in time and could proceed, and disability discrimination allegations connected with the post-transfer redundancy process on and after 1 April 2019 were also in time, including any consideration of alternative employment. The TUPE information and consultation claims were out of time. Against the Third Respondent, the Tribunal said there was no jurisdiction over unfair dismissal, failure to inform and consult, or election of employee representatives, but any disability discrimination arising from the April 2019 consultation and redundancy steps between 1 and 18 April 2019 could proceed; pre-transfer discrimination allegations were out of time.