Ms S Darcy v Ms K Katona and 1 other — 2020

This was a preliminary hearing to decide time limits. The claimant’s employment ended on 27 July 2018, giving a primary unfair dismissal limitation date of 26 October 2018. She presented her ET1 on 9 December 2019, which the tribunal found was 13.5 months late. The tribunal also noted that it was not dealing with time limits on the reasonable adjustments claim, which would be for the full merits hearing.

The claimant relied on her internal grievance process, saying she did not start tribunal proceedings because she was told to exhaust that process first and did not think the matter was closed until the grievance outcome on 19 July 2019. She said she had union representation throughout and that her union representative told her there were time limits, including at the investigatory interview on 9 October 2018. She also referred to a July 2018 contact with ACAS, but the tribunal treated that as secondary to the union advice.

Applying section 111 ERA 1996 and the authorities it cited, including Palmer, Dedman, Times Newspapers v O’Regan, and Marks and Spencer v Williams-Ryan, the tribunal found that the claimant knew of the three-month time limit and that it was reasonably practicable for her to present the claim in time. It held that she was bound by the incorrect advice from her union advisers, and that her health issues were not relied on as the reason for lateness. The unfair dismissal claim was therefore dismissed for want of jurisdiction. The claimant also stated that she no longer pursued the breach of contract point, and that claim was recorded as withdrawn.