Dr Guthrie Blackhurst v Represented by: Mr A Crammond - Counsel Lanarkshire Health Board — 2022

Dr Guthrie Blackhurst, a Consultant Physician employed by Lanarkshire Health Board from 8 December 2003, was dismissed on 27 July 2021 and had an appeal against dismissal still ongoing. He presented an ET1 on 23 December 2021 after ACAS early conciliation, but that first claim was rejected on 5 January 2022 because the respondent name on the claim form differed from the ACAS certificate. The claimant emailed the Tribunal the next day, the email was treated as a reconsideration application, and the rejection was confirmed. The Tribunal held that it had no jurisdiction to consider that rejected first claim because it had not been appealed.

The Tribunal then considered the second claim form presented on 11 January 2022. It accepted that the ordinary unfair dismissal claim under s.98 ERA 1996 and the automatic unfair dismissal claim under s.103A ERA 1996 were presented outside the primary time limit, but found that it was not reasonably practicable to present them in time and that they were presented within a reasonable further period. The key reason was that the claimant genuinely and reasonably believed the first ET1 had been validly presented because he had named Heather Knox as Chief Executive and used the NHS Lanarkshire address, and he acted promptly once the Tribunal indicated that the claim had been rejected.

The Tribunal relied on s.111 ERA 1996 and cited Wall's Meat Co Ltd v Khan, Porter v Bandridge Ltd, Palmer v Southend-on-Sea BC, Asda Stores v Kauser, Software Box v Gannon and Adams v British Telecommunications plc. It held that the claimant's misunderstanding about the first claim was genuine and reasonable in the circumstances, so time was extended and the s.98 and s.103A claims would proceed. The Tribunal also held that no claim for unpaid notice pay was before it, and it left the time-bar issue for the separate s.47B detriment claim to the final hearing.