Mr L Boyle v Mountney Ltd — 2019

Mr L Boyle’s claim against Mountney Ltd was dismissed at a preliminary hearing on 22 November 2019 because he did not attend. The tribunal recorded that he had emailed the day before saying that, after the hearing was changed from a one-day hearing to a two-hour preliminary hearing, he would not be attending. He said he had been forced into the decision to abandon his claim, but he did not respond when the tribunal sought clarification on whether that was intended as a withdrawal. Employment Judge Corrigan therefore did not treat the email as an unequivocal withdrawal, but dismissed the claim for non-attendance under rule 47 of the Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure.

The tribunal also found that the claim was out of time in any event. The employment ended on 31 July 2018, giving a primary deadline of 30 October 2018. ACAS early conciliation was started on 27 September 2018 and ended on 27 October 2018, which extended the deadline to 29 November 2018. The claim was presented on 30 November 2018, one day late.

Mr Boyle had filed a statement on limitation dated 29 April 2019, but he did not dispute that the claim was late and gave no explanation for why it had not been presented on 29 November 2018. The tribunal noted his reference to not being aware that it was late, but said an attached email showed he had ongoing access to ACAS advice and could have sought information about the deadline. His explanation that he had been deterred in early November by a threat to withhold a reference did not explain why the claim was issued on 30 November 2018 rather than 29 November 2018. The tribunal held that it had not been reasonably practicable to present the claim in time was not made out, and that the claim was outside the tribunal’s jurisdiction.