Miss D Elliott v Represented by: Mr W McParland - Solicitor Kerri Ann Angus and 1 other — 2019

Miss Elliott was dismissed from her employment on 15 August 2018 while five months pregnant. She presented a complaint of discrimination on 6 December 2018, and the hearing was confined to whether the tribunal had jurisdiction because the claim was said to be out of time. The claimant asked the tribunal to extend time on a just and equitable basis under s.123 Equality Act 2010.

The tribunal accepted that the claimant had contacted ACAS and the CAB shortly after dismissal and that she was advised to draft a grievance and pursue an appeal. It found her evidence credible on some matters, but on the key issue of advice about time limits it did not accept that she had not been told about time limits by ACAS or the CAB. The tribunal found that she was aware of time limits by 29 August 2018 at the latest.

Applying the Keeble factors, the tribunal held that the delay was 22 days. It accepted that the delay was unlikely to materially affect the cogency of the evidence and that the respondents would suffer limited prejudice, but it attached significant weight to the absence of any good reason for the delay and to the fact that the claimant had not presented the claim within time despite early awareness of the issue. It concluded that it was not just and equitable to extend time, so it had no jurisdiction to consider the discrimination complaint.