Mr E King v London Fire Commissioner — 2023

The claimant was employed as a firefighter and presented unfair dismissal and race discrimination complaints on 11 January 2023, after his dismissal and internal appeal. The tribunal refused his application to amend the race discrimination claim, finding that the new allegations were new factual complaints, were outside the primary time limit, would require new witness evidence, and that the balance of prejudice weighed against allowing the amendment.

On unfair dismissal, the tribunal accepted that initial trade union advice meant it was not reasonably practicable to present the claim until shortly after the internal appeal outcome. It found, however, that after the unsuccessful appeal the claimant knew the relevant facts and that the tribunal time limits were tight, and that the ICO complaint did not prevent him presenting an employment tribunal claim in parallel. The unfair dismissal claim was therefore struck out as out of time.

On race discrimination, the tribunal considered the broader just and equitable extension test. It treated the merits as neutral, but found the delay lengthy, that there was no good reason for much of the delay after the appeal, and that recollections of decision makers might be impaired to some extent. It concluded that the claimant had no reasonable prospect of persuading a tribunal to extend time and struck out the race discrimination claims.