Member E Hossack Tribunal Member T Lithgow Miss N Wallace v , Solicitor Dundee City Council — 2024

Miss N Wallace brought claims arising from her pregnancy, maternity leave, flexible working request, and the handling of her grievance and appeal. Dundee City Council argued that the claims were time barred. The tribunal held that the claims were out of time and that it had no jurisdiction to hear them, so all claims were dismissed.

On the facts, the tribunal found that a risk assessment was carried out on 12 May 2022, before the statutory obligation to do so had arisen, and that the claimant was moved to the MASH team from July 2022 so that she could work from home. It also found that when locality team 2 was temporarily dispersed in September 2022, the claimant was not invited to the meeting, but that this was because she was already working away from the team and was thought to be on the point of maternity leave. The tribunal accepted that it would have been best practice to invite her, but did not treat the omission as a well-founded victimisation claim.

The tribunal found that the flexible working request made on 19 February 2023 was not dealt with in the way the council's policy required and that there was poor communication about the claimant's return to work, her hours, and the team she would join. It nevertheless held that the sections 80G and 80H complaint was time barred. On the Equality Act claims, the tribunal found that the earlier alleged acts fell outside the three-month limitation period, that there was no continuing act extending time, and that it was not just and equitable to extend time.

In relation to the grievance and appeal, the tribunal accepted the evidence of Mr Ross and Mr Berry that their decisions were honestly made. It held that their conclusions on the grievance did not provide a basis for an inference of discrimination or victimisation. The tribunal noted that, if it had had jurisdiction over the flexible working complaint, it would have awarded the statutory maximum of four weeks' pay, but no monetary award was made because all claims were dismissed.