In person For the v Ms A Foley, Solicitor — 2023

This was a preliminary judgment on an application for strike out. The claimant, Mrs Joanne Cook, had been employed by the respondent as an Operations Team Leader from 8 August 2019 to 30 September 2021. She began ACAS early conciliation on 30 November 2021 and presented her claim form on 11 February 2022. The tribunal recorded that her complaints of unfair dismissal and disability discrimination were presented out of time, but it heard evidence about the claimant's reliance on ACAS advice about the time limit and her lack of legal knowledge and resources.

The tribunal accepted that the ACAS certificate was dated 10 January 2022 but was not sent to the claimant until 11 February 2022, as ACAS confirmed. It also accepted that the claimant believed, based on what she was told, that she had at least one calendar month from 11 January 2022, and that when she raised this with ACAS her misunderstanding was not corrected by telling her the final date was 10 February 2022. On that basis, the tribunal held that the claimant's failure to present the unfair dismissal complaint in time was because reliance on the ACAS Officer's advice made it not reasonably practicable to present the claim in time, and that the claim was presented within a reasonable time thereafter.

In relation to disability discrimination, the tribunal held that it was just and equitable to extend time. It said the respondent suffered no prejudice from a one-day extension, that the claimant was again relying on ACAS advice, and that it would be unjust and inequitable to prevent her from pursuing the complaint because of that erroneous advice. The tribunal therefore extended time for both complaints up to 11 February 2022, the date the claim form was submitted. No merits findings or remedy award were made in this judgment.