Miss C Urquhart, Counsel For the v Ms H O’Kelly, Solicitor — 2021

This was a preliminary hearing on the respondent’s application to strike out the claimant’s age discrimination complaint on the basis that it was presented out of time. The tribunal recorded that the claim arose from a redundancy exercise following the Covid-19 pandemic. The claimant had been employed as a Cabin Service Director, the nearest alternative role was In-Flight Manager, and she said the process was discriminatory because she did not score highly enough to secure that role.

The key dates noted by the tribunal were 6 August 2020, when the claimant was told she had not secured her preferred role and was offered Cabin Crew; 16 September 2020, when counsel said she received the grievance outcome; 12 October 2020, when Early Conciliation through Acas began and ended; and 1 November 2020, when she began her new role. The tribunal also noted that there had been no alteration in her terms and conditions of employment until 1 November 2020, when her salary reduced and her role changed.

The claimant argued that the 6 August 2020 decision was not a single act but part of an ongoing state of affairs that crystallised on 1 November 2020. The respondent argued that 6 August 2020 was a single act and the only relevant act for limitation purposes. The tribunal referred to E v X UKEAT0079/20 and Hale v Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust UKEAT0342/16 when considering the time point.

The tribunal was not satisfied that the claimant had no reasonable prospect of establishing a continuing series of acts ending on 1 November 2020. It was also not satisfied that she had no reasonable prospect of showing that it would be just and equitable to extend time. No order was therefore made on the strike out application, and the issue of time was left to be determined at the final hearing.