Mr T Swinfen v Britannia Hotels Limited — 2023

Mr T Swinfen brought a claim saying he had been automatically unfairly dismissed. The parties agreed that his employment ended on 12 December 2022, and the claim was presented on 14 June 2023. The preliminary hearing was therefore limited to whether the Tribunal had jurisdiction, and the Tribunal did not reach the merits of the dismissal complaint.

The Tribunal accepted that the claimant had looked into the possibility of bringing a claim, including contacting the Citizens Advice Bureau, solicitors, friends who studied law, and his former university, and researching legal aid. It found his evidence about when he sought advice and why the claim was delayed to be somewhat contradictory and not wholly credible. The Tribunal described him as an intelligent individual and considered it inconceivable that someone acting with reasonable care would not discover the three-month time limit for an unfair dismissal claim through online research.

Applying section 111(2) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the case of Porter v Bandridge Ltd, the Tribunal held that it was not reasonably practicable for the claimant to present his claim in time had not been made out. It also rejected the suggestion that waiting for a grievance or appeal process to be dealt with by the respondent made late presentation reasonable, noting that the respondent had not responded to the claimant's emails and that he should have realised the process was not progressing.

The Tribunal further held that, even if it had accepted that it was not reasonably practicable to present the claim within the initial three months, the claim was still lodged more than three months after that period expired, so a further three months was not a reasonable further period. The final result was that the Tribunal held it had no jurisdiction to determine the unfair dismissal claim.