Mr. S Gillies v The Financial Ombudsmen Service — 2018

This was a preliminary hearing on limitation only. The Claimant presented his claim on 3 August 2018 after being dismissed from his Team Manager role in October 2017 with payment in lieu of notice. The Tribunal found that his unfair dismissal complaint was outside the primary three-month period, but that it was not reasonably practicable for him to present it by 18 January 2018 because of serious mental health difficulties and his mistaken belief that he had to complete the internal appeal process before starting tribunal proceedings.

The Tribunal accepted the Claimant's evidence that he suffered from depression and anxiety, including periods of suicidal thoughts and difficulty leaving home, and that his condition affected his ability to think clearly about his legal position. It also accepted that he had been receiving treatment through Greenwich Time To Talk until the end of July 2018 and had then obtained legal advice from Plumstead Law, after which he completed ACAS conciliation and lodged the claim promptly on 3 August 2018. Applying the statutory and discretionary time-limit tests, including the Harvey factors and Robertson v Bexley Community Center, the Tribunal held that the unfair dismissal claim was in time.

For the Equality Act complaint, the Tribunal applied the just and equitable test under section 123 of the Equality Act 2010 and extended time to 3 August 2018 for the disability and sexual orientation dismissal claims. It took into account the delay, the Claimant's medical condition, the Respondent's size and available witnesses, and the limited prejudice shown by the Respondent. The Tribunal said that earlier allegations of discrimination were not sufficiently clear as to date to decide limitation. No merits findings or remedy awards were made at this stage, and the Respondent was given liberty to seek further particulars and to amend its defence if necessary.