Mr A Burns v Gmb and 1 other — 2023

The claimant applied on 6 March 2023 for reconsideration of the judgment sent to the parties on 28 February 2023. Employment Judge Sekhon Date refused the application, holding that there was no reasonable prospect of the original decision being varied or revoked.

The tribunal found that the allegations listed at paragraph 2 of page 64/5 of the bundle were new allegations of direct age and sex discrimination and had not been made in the claimant's Particulars of Claim dated 7 July 2021. The fact that the new allegations might be linked to the pleaded allegations did not mean they should not have been pleaded separately, and the claimant's letter of 6 March 2023 provided no new information that would change that conclusion.

The judge also said there was insufficient information in the way the new allegations were pleaded, including specific dates, to decide whether they were in time or continuing acts. The amended dates provided in the claimant's letter were therefore not relevant because the earlier decision had not depended on the dates of the individual events. The tribunal found that the amendments sought on 21 February 2023 were about 19 months after the claim was presented on 7 July 2021, that the allegations were out of time by at least 19 months, and that it was not just and equitable to extend the time limit because of prejudice to the respondent during the delay and because the claims could and should have been made in the original particulars.

The tribunal also said the claimant's reference to an alleged breach of ACAS guidance about not pausing the first disciplinary hearing due to ill health and key worker status was not an allegation he had sought to amend in the Particulars of Claim and was not relevant to the reconsideration application. Overall, the judge concluded that the claimant had made substantially the same application as on 21 February 2023, which had already been considered and refused.