Mr P O’Brien v Levenday Limited Heard: by video — 2021

The tribunal dealt only with time limits and did not reach the merits of the underlying claims. It found that the claimant had been dismissed on 12 February 2020, that he appealed the dismissal on 17 February 2020, and that he submitted the tribunal claim and ACAS early conciliation on 12 June 2020. The claimant gave different explanations for the delay, including that his union had misled him and later that he believed matters would be put on hold because of the pandemic.

For the unfair dismissal, breach of contract and unauthorised deductions from wages claims, the tribunal held that the three-month limitation period expired on 11 May 2020. It concluded that it had been reasonably practicable for the claimant to have contacted ACAS in time, noting that he had already been in contact with the respondent, that ACAS could be contacted by telephone or email during the period, and that there was nothing to suggest he was unaware of his rights or the procedure. Those claims were therefore dismissed as out of time under the statutory time-limit provisions.

For the disability discrimination claim, the tribunal found that the act complained of occurred on 5 September 2019, when the respondent emailed the claimant suggesting he send a short daily email with customer details and amounts taken to help him deal with the Webchise system. On that basis, the primary time limit expired on 4 December 2019, but ACAS contact did not occur until 12 June 2020. Applying section 123(1) Equality Act 2010 and the authorities it cited, including Robertson, Keeble and Adedeji, the tribunal held that the delay was significant, that the claimant's later explanation did not address the earlier period, and that there were weak prospects that a disability discrimination claim would succeed on the facts found. It therefore refused to extend time and dismissed the discrimination claim.