Mr M Forsyth v Blueprints Housing Action Rochdale — 2025

Mr M Forsyth brought a single claim of unfair dismissal against Blueprints Housing Action Rochdale. The tribunal recorded that he was dismissed on 19 December 2023 and that the primary limitation period for an unfair dismissal claim expired on 29 April 2024, but his ET1 was not presented until 7 October 2024. The hearing was listed to determine the time limit issue only.

The claimant said the delay was caused by illness following a stroke on 19 December 2023. The tribunal accepted that he had suffered a stroke, had been in hospital until February 2024, had then been bedbound until May 2024, and had continuing eyesight problems and brain fog. It also accepted that the stroke was traumatic and that recovery would have taken time.

Applying section 111(2) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the tribunal held that it was nevertheless not satisfied that it had not been reasonably practicable for the claim to be presented in time. It placed weight on the fact that the claimant had been able, with trade union assistance, to engage with the ACAS early conciliation process between March and April 2024, at a time when his illness was said to be more pronounced than when the ET1 was eventually submitted. The tribunal also noted the absence of medical evidence addressing the effect of the stroke on his ability to file the claim and found the claimant’s evidence about the symptoms and their impact to be vague.

The tribunal therefore dismissed the unfair dismissal claim. It added, in the alternative, that if it had been wrong on reasonably practicable, a further reasonable period would not have extended to 7 October 2024 because it saw no significant difference in the claimant’s condition between about May 2024 and October 2024.