Ms Niomi Owen v Cidari Multi Academy Trust — 2025

This hearing dealt only with whether Ms Niomi Owen’s claims had been presented in time. The tribunal recorded that her employment with Cidari Multi Academy Trust ended on 31 August 2024 and that she presented her tribunal claim on 13 March 2025, after the ordinary limitation periods had expired. It also recorded that she had a baby on 4 March 2024, that the baby was seriously ill after birth and spent time in neonatal intensive care, and that she developed a mental health condition requiring specialist perinatal mental health support and weekly counselling in late 2024.

On the unfair dismissal complaint brought under s.99 Employment Rights Act 1996, the tribunal accepted that Ms Owen was very unwell during the period in which she should have presented her claim. It found that anxiety had been so severe that she needed input from mental health services and that she did not learn until 5 March 2025 that someone was covering her former role. The tribunal accepted that she contacted ACAS four days later and then presented the claim on the same day her early conciliation certificate was issued. It concluded that it had not been reasonably practicable to present the claim in time and that it was brought within a further reasonable period, so the claim would proceed.

On the pregnancy and maternity discrimination complaint under s.18 Equality Act 2010, the tribunal found the claim was also out of time but extended time on a just and equitable basis. In reaching that conclusion it noted that Ms Owen was acting in person and with very limited resources, that she would be prejudiced if prevented from pursuing a possibly meritorious claim, and that the respondent identified no material prejudice beyond a four-month lapse in witnesses’ memories. The tribunal therefore allowed both claims to continue beyond the time limit stage. No merits findings or monetary remedy were recorded in this judgment.