Holly Dawkins v HM Courts and Tribunal Service and 2 others — 2023

At the open preliminary hearing, the claimant withdrew the claim against the second respondent, Linda Morris. The tribunal then considered amendment, strike out, and extension-of-time applications. It accepted that the claimant was not pursuing direct discrimination. It allowed only the 'Other Work Complaint' as a relabelling amendment to harassment, but refused the proposed 'Desk Complaint' of 4 June 2020, the 'Special Leave Complaint' of 9 April 2021, and the 'Claire Jones June '21 Complaint' of 23 June 2021 because they raised new factual matters or a new cause of action and were substantially out of time.

The tribunal found that the claimant's 29 April 2021 grievance covered most of the matters later brought before it, and that those claims could have been brought then. The claimant resigned on 12 August 2021, her last day was 10 September 2021, ACAS was notified on 26 April 2022, and the claim was received on 29 April 2022. The claimant said she did not know about the three-month time limit and that it did not occur to her to bring a claim earlier. She also relied on medical evidence concerning anxiety, depression, panic attacks, and related stress, together with her move to Wales and later return to Derbyshire.

Applying the just and equitable time-extension test under section 123 EqA 2010, the tribunal held that the claimant's ignorance of the time limit was not reasonable and that the overall balance of prejudice, delay, and staleness did not justify an extension. It therefore concluded that it had no jurisdiction to hear the Equality Act 2010 claims and dismissed the claim accordingly. The strike-out application was not considered further, and the 24 July 2023 final hearing was vacated.