Dr K Giannopoulos v Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust — 2020

At the preliminary hearing on 10 November 2020, Dr Giannopoulos said his work for the respondent as a locum doctor for the week of 21 to 27 March 2020 was ended after two night shifts, when he was told on 23 March 2020 that he was not required for the rest of the week and that the shifts would be covered by an employee working bank shifts. He brought complaints of unfair dismissal, failure to pay redundancy pay, breach of contract, and direct race discrimination said to arise from treatment because of his Greek nationality.

The tribunal recorded that the claimant accepted he did not have two years' continuous service with the respondent. On that basis, and with the respondent's consent, he withdrew the unfair dismissal and redundancy pay complaints. Those claims were therefore dismissed on withdrawal.

The tribunal found that the claim form was filed one day late. It accepted that the claimant had been working away from home and had practical difficulties, but found he was aware of the time limits and had in fact filed from Wales while away working. Applying the reasonably practicable test and referring to Palmer & Another v Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, the tribunal held it was reasonably practicable to present the breach of contract claim in time, so that complaint was dismissed as out of time.

For the direct race discrimination complaint, the tribunal applied the broader just and equitable time-limit test under s.207B(3) ERA 1996. It accepted there was no practical prejudice to the respondent from the one-day delay and that refusing to extend time would prevent the claimant from pursuing the claim at all. The tribunal therefore allowed the race discrimination claim to proceed to a final hearing rather than determining the merits at that stage.