Mrs A Zaidi v National Westminster Bank plc and 4 others — 2021

This was an open preliminary hearing concerning disability status and whether claims against the individual respondents should proceed. The respondents conceded that the claimant was disabled at the point of the first alleged unlawful act related to disability, so that issue did not require determination. The complaint against Mr Camichel was withdrawn after the Bank accepted vicarious liability for his alleged conduct and did not rely on a reasonable steps defence.

The remaining jurisdiction issue concerned complaints against Mr Dugan and Mr Henson. The tribunal found that the relevant alleged acts by those respondents accrued at the latest in July 2019 and were discrete, time-specific complaints rather than part of a continuing course of conduct extending into the primary limitation period. The claim was presented on 14 October 2020, after ACAS early conciliation from 4 August to 4 September 2020, so events before 14 June 2020 fell outside the primary limitation period.

The tribunal accepted that the claimant had been significantly unwell and had pursued internal grievance and whistleblowing processes that substantially foreshadowed the tribunal complaints. It found that the pursuit of the grievance process justified an extension for part of the delay, but by March 2020 the internal process concerning the relevant complaints had been exhausted. Taking account of the further delay, the claimant's access to specialist solicitors, the prejudice associated with stale evidence and prolonged litigation, and proceeding on the assumption that the complaints were credible at their highest, the tribunal concluded that it was not just and equitable to extend time. The claims against Mr Dugan and Mr Henson were dismissed as time-barred.