Mrs Christine Devine v Scottish Fire and Rescue Service — 2023

Mrs Devine presented a claim on 10 March 2023 alleging indirect sex discrimination arising from an asserted requirement to work Monday to Friday in relation to the Clinical Lead role. The hearing on 1 August 2023 was a preliminary hearing confined to limitation under section 123 Equality Act 2010 and whether it would be just and equitable to extend time.

The tribunal found that the complaint related to two acts, in February 2021 and August 2022. Even using 12 August 2022 as the latest possible date, the claim was out of time because ACAS early conciliation was not commenced until 17 February 2023 and the claim was not presented until 10 March 2023. The tribunal referred to British Coal Corporation v Keeble and Southwark London Borough Council v Afolabi in considering the broad but strictly applied discretion to extend time.

In deciding whether to extend time, the tribunal noted that the claimant had known about the tribunal time limit after speaking to ACAS in August 2022, wrote to the respondent on 6 September 2022, and received a response on 25 October 2022. It accepted that the claimant said she was unsure she had the mental strength to proceed, but found there was no medical evidence to explain why she could not have acted sooner and that she had continued working throughout the period.

The tribunal also said, without deciding the merits, that there was force in the respondent's submission that the claimant may have struggled to establish the alleged provision, criterion or practice because she had worked flexibly for many years and the two existing Clinical Leads also worked flexibly. The tribunal held that it was not just and equitable to extend time, found it had no jurisdiction to hear the claim, and said the claim could not proceed.