E.T. Z (WR) EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS (SCOTLAND) Case No: 4110665/2019 Held in Glasgow on December 2019 Employment Judge: W A Meiklejohn Mr Saqib Sheikh v Digitas LBI Limited — 2020

At a preliminary hearing in Glasgow on 16 December 2019, the tribunal considered the respondent's application under Rule 20 for an extension of time to present its response. The claimant had submitted his ET1 on 6 September 2019, the tribunal sent notice to the respondent's Edinburgh registered office on 12 September 2019, and the response deadline was 10 October 2019. No ET3 had been received by that date. The respondent said it first became aware of the claim on 25 October 2019, after the tribunal's further letter of 22 October 2019 was forwarded internally, and its solicitors filed the Rule 20 application with a draft ET3 on 4 November 2019.

The Employment Judge considered the factors discussed in Kwik Save Stores Ltd v Swain and followed in Thornton v Jones, and noted the overriding objective. He found that the delay arose from a combination of the claimant's omission to complete section 2.4 of the ET1, a breakdown in the respondent's internal system for forwarding mail, and the timing of the respondent's Edinburgh office relocation. The judge was satisfied that the delay was not substantial, that the draft ET3 disclosed statable defences to the pleaded claims, and that the prejudice to the respondent if barred from defending the case outweighed the prejudice to the claimant.

The application was therefore granted and the ET3 response form was accepted. The judgment also records that the claimant wished the case to be transferred to London and that the respondent agreed, so the appropriate transfer action was to be taken. The underlying claims referenced in the pleadings included direct sex discrimination, harassment, victimisation, holiday pay, and possible disability discrimination, but this judgment did not determine those merits.