ETZ 4(WR) EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS (SCOTLAND) Case No: 8000548/2024 Preliminary Hearing at Glasgow on September 2025 Employment Judge: M A Macleod Mr I Galloway v Lanarkshire Deaf Club — 2025

The claimant brought an unfair dismissal claim arising from his dismissal by Lanarkshire Deaf Club. The tribunal found that the claimant was dismissed on 8 November 2023, when the respondent wrote to confirm that the board had decided to terminate his employment with immediate effect. The claimant’s later assertion that dismissal occurred on 1 March 2024, based on what was said at the appeal hearing, was rejected as not affecting the legal or factual date of termination.

Applying section 111(2) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the tribunal held that the claim had to be presented within three months of the effective date of termination, subject to any extension where it was not reasonably practicable to present in time. On the tribunal’s findings, the deadline expired on 7 February 2024. The claimant did not notify ACAS until 21 February 2024 and did not present his tribunal claim until 25 April 2024, so he did not obtain any extension through the ACAS Early Conciliation process.

The tribunal accepted that the claimant had contacted ACAS in November 2023 and later had help from his daughter in making his notifications, but found there was no clear explanation for why he did not seek advice about tribunal time limits or initiate Early Conciliation within the statutory period. It also found that the respondent’s later statement at the appeal hearing, suggesting that he was still technically employed, did not assist him because it was both incorrect and made after the claim was already out of time.

The tribunal referred to Porter v Bandridge Ltd, Palmer & Saunders v Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, Trevelyans (Birmingham) Ltd v Norton, and Bodha v Hampshire Area Health Authority in applying the 'reasonably practicable' test. It concluded that it had been entirely practicable for the claimant to present his claim in time, or at least to start Early Conciliation in time, and therefore dismissed the claim for want of jurisdiction as time-barred.