In Person For the v Ms P Hall, Consultant at Peninsula — 2020

The claimant, Miss Amy Maynard, had worked for Helgor Trading Limited from 17 March 2017 until she resigned on 29 May 2018. The tribunal recorded that the respondent conceded she was, at the material time, a disabled person, and that she said she had resigned because the working environment and the respondent's failure to make reasonable adjustments affected her post-traumatic stress disorder.

The tribunal's task was limited to jurisdiction: the claim was presented on 16 April 2019, nearly eight months after the relevant date, so it was outside the three-month time limit for an Equality Act claim. The ACAS early conciliation period did not extend time because the certificate showed the conciliation period ending on the same day the claim was presented.

The claimant said she delayed bringing proceedings because she had made a conscious commercial decision not to "rock the boat" while a related company, Contrast Security Limited, depended heavily on the respondent's contract and she feared the contract might be terminated if she pursued a claim. The tribunal accepted that explanation as her reason for delay, but held it did not provide a basis for extending time.

Applying the section 123 Equality Act 2010 discretion, and referring to British Coal Corporation v Keeble and Others and Roberts v Bexley Leisure Community Centre trading as Leisurelink, Employment Judge Britton concluded that it was not just and equitable to extend time. The claim was therefore dismissed for want of jurisdiction, and the tribunal did not reach the substance of the disability discrimination complaint.