Mr D Carse v Digby Brown LLP — 2026

This preliminary hearing concerned limitation and jurisdiction. Mr Carse's complaints were automatically unfair dismissal as a result of making protected disclosures, failure to make reasonable adjustments, discrimination arising from disability, and unauthorised deductions from his final salary payment.

The Tribunal found that Mr Carse's employment terminated on 29 January 2025. He was informed orally that day, and the respondent's subsequent letter stated clearly that his employment would terminate on that date and that he would receive four weeks' pay in lieu of notice. The Tribunal found that this was a plain and unambiguous termination; the payment in lieu and the payment of his final salary on 28 February 2025 did not alter the effective date of termination.

The primary limitation period for the automatically unfair dismissal complaint expired on 28 April 2025. Early conciliation began only after that date, and the claim was presented on 15 July 2025. The Tribunal found that stress, anxiety and recovery from a hand injury did not make timely presentation not reasonably practicable: Mr Carse had begun alternative employment, produced no medical evidence of an impediment, and could have made enquiries about payment in lieu of notice. The complaint was dismissed for want of jurisdiction without determination of its merits.

The reasonable-adjustments and discrimination-arising-from-disability complaints concerned acts or omissions occurring no later than 29 January 2025 and were also presented approximately two and a half months after the primary period expired. The Tribunal declined to extend time on just and equitable grounds, finding no satisfactory explanation for the delay and concluding that the balance of prejudice weighed more heavily on the respondent. Both disability discrimination complaints were dismissed for want of jurisdiction without determination of their merits.

The unauthorised-deductions complaint concerned the final salary payment made on 28 February 2025. Early conciliation from 12 May to 23 June 2025 extended the applicable limitation period, and the claim presented on 15 July 2025 was therefore in time. The Tribunal held that it had jurisdiction to hear that complaint but did not decide its merits or award any remedy.