Mr Q Hu v Nicholas Associates Group Ltd trading as Stafforce and 1 other — 2022

The claimant, Mr Q Hu, was engaged by Stafforce from 13 December 2019 and deployed to Young's Seafood as a packing worker. He said he was Chinese Asian and disabled by type 1 diabetes. The tribunal heard the case remotely over 16 and 17 February 2022, and noted that he had been told by his doctor on 17 July 2020 about the possibility of bringing an employment tribunal claim. It also noted inconsistencies in his evidence, including his account of a county court personal injury claim that he had instructed solicitors to bring.

The tribunal refused permission to amend the claims to add age discrimination and/or harassment because of age. Applying Selkent Bus Co Ltd v Moore, it held that the proposed amendment was effectively a new cause of action, was considerably out of time, and had no reasonable prospect of success on the limited material before it. The tribunal then dismissed the disability discrimination and race discrimination claims because they were presented outside the three-month limit and it was not just and equitable to extend time.

The tribunal found that the claimant's stated ignorance of tribunal procedure, language difficulties, and alleged medical issues did not make it not reasonably practicable to bring the ERA and Working Time claims in time. It dismissed the unfair dismissal claim, the protected-disclosure dismissal claim, the wages and holiday pay claims, and the breach of contract claim on time-limit grounds. It also held, in any event, that Young's was not the claimant's employer, that ordinary unfair dismissal could not succeed because he had not completed two years' continuous employment with Stafforce, and that he was not entitled to a redundancy payment. No monetary award was made.