Mr R Verburg v The Down’s Syndrome Association — 2021

At the open preliminary hearing on 27 September 2021, Employment Judge Cheetham QC considered a claim brought by Mr R Verburg arising from his employment as an Employment Development Officer with the Down's Syndrome Association. The tribunal recorded that the claimant had started work on 3 February 2019 and that his employment ended on 17 February 2020, so he had less than 2 years' continuous service. On that basis, the tribunal held that it had no jurisdiction to hear the unfair dismissal complaint.

The ET1 also referred to wrongful dismissal and detriment said to arise from protected disclosures. The tribunal found those complaints were out of time. It set out the relevant dates as 17 February 2020 for termination, 14 May 2020 for Acas notification, 18 June 2020 for the Acas certificate, 18 July 2020 as the limitation date, and 31 July 2020 as the date the ET1 was presented. The claim was therefore 13 days late.

The claimant relied on technical difficulties with his computer, ill-health, a pending Freedom of Information request, the Covid-19 pandemic, and caring responsibilities. The tribunal accepted that those matters may have made proceedings more difficult, but held that they did not show it was not reasonably practicable to present the claim in time. The claimant said at the hearing that he was no longer pursuing age discrimination, so that complaint was withdrawn. The tribunal therefore dismissed the claim overall and recorded no remedy.