Claimant v The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants — 2018

Mr S Boag brought an unfair dismissal claim against the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants after his employment ended by redundancy on 8 September 2017. The tribunal found that the ET1 was presented on 15 April 2018, after the primary three-month time limit had expired on 7 December 2017. It also found that the claimant did not contact ACAS until 23 February 2018, so he could not obtain any extension of the limitation period through early conciliation.

The claimant's explanation for the delay was that he did not want to jeopardise the position of colleagues who were still going through the redundancy exercise, and that he waited until they had left the respondent's employment. The tribunal accepted that he knew of the right to bring a claim and knew of the three-month time limit, but concluded that his reason for delaying was a choice rather than an impediment making it not reasonably practicable to present the claim in time. It referred to section 111 ERA 1996, section 207B on early conciliation, and authorities including Porter v Bandridge Ltd and Birmingham Optical Group plc v Johnson.

The tribunal therefore held that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the unfair dismissal complaint and dismissed it. It also noted that, although the claim form and correspondence referred to possible discrimination, the claimant confirmed that he was not bringing a discrimination claim. No remedy award was made.