Mr G Cooper v Murphy Builders Limited — 2021

Mr G Cooper brought unfair dismissal claims arising from his dismissal by Murphy Builders Ltd on 8 January 2020. He contacted ACAS under Early Conciliation around mid-January 2020, and the Early Conciliation certificate was issued on 7 March 2020. The Tribunal calculated that the ordinary time limit expired on 7 April 2020. It accepted that the claimant had also contacted the Citizens Advice Bureau and that he was a litigant in person, but the claims were not presented until 20 September 2020 and 13 October 2020.

The Tribunal applied section 111 and section 207B of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the authorities it cited on limitation and the "not reasonably practicable" test, including Wall's Meat Company Ltd v Khan, Porter v Bandridge Ltd, Trevelyans (Birmingham) Ltd v Norton, Sodexo Healthcare Services Ltd v Harmer, and Luton Borough Council v M Haque. It found that the claimant knew of his right to bring an Employment Tribunal claim well before the deadline and had been advised to contact the Tribunal if he wished to proceed.

Although the claimant said he misunderstood the process and thought ACAS was part of the Tribunal, the Tribunal found that his ignorance of the time limit was not reasonable on the facts. It noted that he had taken advice, had received the ACAS certificate, and still did not present the first claim for around six months after the relevant date. The claimant did not show that it was not reasonably practicable to present the claims in time, so the Tribunal did not need to decide whether the later delay was reasonable.

The result was that the claims were held to be time barred and the Tribunal said it had no jurisdiction to consider them further. No merits findings or remedy award were made.