Miss E Striano v Taormina Ltd — 2018

Miss E Striano's claim against Taormina Ltd was heard at Croydon on 19 December 2019 before Employment Judge Wright. The judgment records that the claimant, an Italian national who did not speak English, had been dismissed on 2 June 2018 and later returned to the UK on 21 June 2018, where she found that she had lost her accommodation. She sought help from the CAB, contacted Anglo-Italian lawyers, and then instructed a European Registered Lawyer, but the tribunal found that the time limit issue was not identified until her current solicitors became involved. The claim form was first posted from Italy and received on 18 October 2018, then lost, and was resubmitted electronically on 22 November 2018 after tribunal staff supplied a dummy postcode.

Employment Judge Wright held that the claim was out of time under s.111 ERA 1996. The tribunal accepted that the claimant had faced practical difficulties and had acted promptly in seeking advice, but found that there was no mistake about the termination date and that any incorrect advice from the adviser had to be treated as the claimant's fault. Relying on Riley v Tesco Stores Ltd and Dedman v British Building and Engineering Appliances, the tribunal concluded that it was bound by authority and had no jurisdiction to hear the claim, so it was dismissed.