Miss S Vaz v Portobello House Ltd — 2020

The tribunal unanimously held that it did not have jurisdiction to hear any of the claimant's complaints and dismissed them. It found that, after early conciliation on 17 April 2020 and a certificate dated 2 May 2020, the unfair dismissal complaint should have been presented by 14 July 2020. On the tribunal's calculation, the claim was presented on 16 July 2020, so it was out of time, and the claimant had not shown that it was not reasonably practicable to present it earlier under s.111(2) ERA 1996.

On disability, the tribunal held that the claim form did not plead disability discrimination at all. The only reference to disability in the particulars was that the respondent had been accepting of the claimant's chronic health condition and had made reasonable adjustments. Although the claimant had later indicated she wished to add disability complaints, the record of the preliminary hearing did not show any leave to amend being granted. The tribunal therefore held that it had no jurisdiction to consider those complaints, and in any event refused to extend time on a just and equitable basis.

On race discrimination, the tribunal treated the allegations as out of time whether or not the claimant's continuing act argument was accepted. It noted that, even on the claimant's case, the claims were at least two days late and could be much earlier depending on which alleged acts were relied on. The tribunal applied the statutory time-limit provisions, considered the length of the delay, the absence of any explanation for not presenting the claim sooner after early conciliation, and the prejudice to the respondent, which it described as a small employer not legally represented. It also noted that the complaint of unlawful deductions from wages had been withdrawn.