Claimant v South Lanarkshire Council — 2023

The claimant, a probationary teacher employed by South Lanarkshire Council, had presented claims of direct and indirect race discrimination and harassment on grounds of race. The respondents did not lodge an ET3 response by the original deadline of 21 February 2023, and the hearing was converted from an undefended final hearing into a preliminary hearing to decide whether they should be granted an extension of time under Rule 20.

The Tribunal heard unchallenged evidence from the respondents' Personnel Adviser about how Tribunal correspondence had come to light on 7 March 2023, after the response deadline had passed, and about ongoing internal Dignity at Work and grievance processes. The claimant's representative stated that the claimant did not object to the extension of time being granted, although she raised concern about delay and said the claim had been lodged protectively because limitation time was running.

Applying the Rule 20 discretion and the factors identified in Grant v Asda and related authorities, the Tribunal considered the explanation for delay, the merits factor, and the balance of prejudice. It concluded that it was in the interests of justice to allow the late ET3 response, because refusing it would prevent the respondents from defending the claim, while the prejudice to the claimant at that stage was relatively slight. The Tribunal accepted the ET3 response and ordered a further case management preliminary hearing, with the substantive hearing to be listed later if required.