In person assisted by her friend Mr T Wyatt For the v Mr Hollebon (Solicitor with Harrison Clark) Strike Out Decision – — 2021

The tribunal dealt with a preliminary hearing and considered whether the claimant's ET1, lodged on 4 April 2021, was in time. The parties agreed that ACAS early conciliation began on 20 January 2021, the certificate was issued on 3 March 2021, and the effective date of termination was 22 October 2020. On that basis, the tribunal held that the extended limitation period had expired on or before 3 April 2021, so the claim was one day late.

Applying section 111(2)(b) ERA 1996, the tribunal considered whether it was not reasonably practicable for the complaint to be presented in time and whether it was then presented within a reasonable further period. It accepted that the claimant met the second limb but not the first. The tribunal found she knew of her right to bring a tribunal claim by November 2020, that she and Mr Wyatt knew or should have known about the time limit, and that if they could locate rule 4 of the Employment Tribunal Rules they could have ascertained the claim time limit earlier.

The tribunal did not accept that the claimant's psychological condition prevented the late filing. It relied on the letter from Dona Hartnett dated 24 August 2021, but found that it did not show the claimant was incapacitated in the months before 3 April 2021. The tribunal also noted that she had been capable of making an ACAS application after a long internal procedure and was managing a team of 12 people when the time limit expired. It concluded that the late filing was because the claimant left it too late and, notwithstanding arguments about fairness, the statutory test was not framed in terms of justice and equitability.

The tribunal struck out the claims of unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal, holiday pay, and failure to provide a statement under section 1 ERA 1996 as having no reasonable prospect of success because they were out of time. It declined to extend time, so no remedy was awarded.