Mr JB Mandicourt v Glen Grant Limited — 2020

Mr JB Mandicourt was employed by Glen Grant Limited from 19 October 2015 to 11 May 2017. He presented his tribunal claim on 9 September 2019, having said that the latest act complained of occurred on 3 August 2017. On that basis, the normal time limit expired on 16 December 2017 after accounting for early conciliation, so the discrimination claim was nearly 21 months out of time.

The tribunal applied the Equality Act 2010 time-limit provisions, including s.123 and the early conciliation extension in s.140B, and referred to the factors identified in British Coal Corporation v Keeble and s.33 Limitation Act 1980. It found the claimant's explanation that he needed to obtain information through a subject access request before bringing the claim was neither reasonable nor credible. The tribunal noted that he had raised a detailed grievance in April 2017, had taken advice from a law centre and solicitors, knew about tribunal time limits, and knew that tribunal disclosure existed as a process for obtaining documents.

The tribunal also found that the claimant did not act promptly when he later received the ICO's response on 5 July 2019, and that his explanation for waiting until 9 September 2019 was not persuasive. It accepted the respondent's case that delay would prejudice it because key individuals had left and memories would fade. On that basis, it held it would not be just and equitable to extend time.

For completeness, the tribunal dismissed the non-discrimination matters referred to on the claim form because it had no jurisdiction to determine data access or slander/defamation complaints. The final result was that all claims were dismissed and no monetary award was made.