Miss A Timmins v The Baby Store Limited — 2024

The claimant brought claims for unfair dismissal, breach of contract, unlawful deduction from wages, direct sexual orientation discrimination and indirect sex discrimination after her employment with The Baby Store Limited ended on 28 December 2020. The tribunal first determined limitation questions before any strike-out applications. It recorded that the unfair dismissal and direct sexual orientation discrimination claims had been withdrawn on 8 September 2022, and later refused the claimant's application to reinstate the unfair dismissal claim because she did not have two years' service under section 108 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and had confirmed that she was not pursuing automatic unfair dismissal.

For the breach of contract and unlawful deduction from wages claims, the tribunal held that it was reasonably practicable for the claimant to present those claims by 4 April 2021. It relied on the claimant's ability during the relevant period to deal with criminal proceedings, start new employment, research tribunal time limits, contact ACAS, and make use of previous Employment Tribunal experience, and noted that there was no medical evidence showing that her condition prevented her from doing so. Those claims were therefore out of time and dismissed.

The indirect sex discrimination claim was also held to be out of time. Applying the just and equitable discretion, the tribunal accepted that the claim had arguable merits, but concluded that the claimant had known about time limits after speaking to ACAS, had time after the criminal proceedings ended to research and act, and could have sought advice from a friend working in human resources or from an independent adviser. It found that extending time would prejudice the respondent more than refusing an extension, particularly because the claim was not ready for a final hearing and there was a real risk of an unfair hearing several years after the events. The claim was dismissed.