Miss Saira Ahmad v Explore Learning Limited — 2020

The claimant presented claims of age discrimination, age-related harassment and victimisation against Ms Shivani Vyas. The tribunal found that the last allegation against Ms Vyas related to an incident on 18 December 2019 and that Ms Vyas ceased to be the claimant's line manager on or before 2 January 2020. On that basis, the three-month time limit expired by 17 March 2020, or at the latest 1 April 2020, but the claim form was not presented until 29 May 2020.

The tribunal considered whether it was just and equitable to extend time and refused to do so. It accepted that the claimant said she only learned of three allegations on 12 February 2020, but found that most of her complaints about Ms Vyas were already known by December 2019. The claimant had contacted ACAS in December 2019 and had access to legal advice in January 2020.

The tribunal also rejected the claimant's reliance on health issues and her asserted lack of knowledge that an individual could be named as a respondent. It found that her health issues did not prevent her from progressing her claim against the respondent, that she could have brought claims against Ms Vyas alongside that process, and that her ignorance of the ability to sue an individual was not a good reason for delay. The tribunal noted that she made a formal grievance about Ms Vyas in March 2020, found the delay significant, and struck out the claims against Ms Vyas as out of time.