Miss Flora Gome Djedje v Community Integrated Care HELD AT: London Central (via CVP) — 2025

The claimant, Miss Flora Gome Djedje, had continuous service with Community Integrated Care from 3 April 2019 until her dismissal with pay in lieu of notice on 2 January 2024. The tribunal recorded that she contacted ACAS on 23 February 2024, the early conciliation certificate was issued on 5 April 2024, and the latest date for issuing the claim was 5 May 2024. The claim was not presented until 28 October 2024, which the tribunal found was out of time for the Employment Rights Act claims and the discrimination claims alike.

For the unfair dismissal claim and the claim described as 'other payments - arrears of pay', the tribunal held that it was reasonably practicable to present the claim in time. The delay was attributed to the claimant's solicitor's misunderstanding about ongoing conciliation after the certificate was issued. The tribunal found that ACAS had warned about the time limit, that the solicitor knew of the limitation period, and that a draft ET1 was already prepared. It held that waiting for a response to settlement proposals did not make it impracticable to issue the claim, so the tribunal had no jurisdiction and dismissed those claims.

The claimant also advanced disability and race discrimination complaints. The tribunal accepted that the claimant's race was black and that the disability case concerned weight and arthritis from around summer 2023, but it did not determine the merits because it refused to extend time. Applying the just and equitable discretion, the tribunal considered the five-month delay, the effect on recollection of earlier alleged events, the respondent's prejudice, the poor pleading of the ET1, and the fact that the claimant potentially had a remedy against her solicitor. Balancing those factors, it held that the prejudice to the respondent outweighed the prejudice to the claimant, so the discrimination complaints were dismissed for want of jurisdiction.