Mr R Frost v John Miller — 2024

Mr R Frost brought a claim of unfair dismissal against John Miller Limited. The Tribunal heard a preliminary issue on time bar. It found that Mr Frost was dismissed on 10 June 2024, contacted ACAS on 22 August 2024, received an Early Conciliation Certificate on 27 September 2024, and first tried to submit an ET1 online on 10 October 2024. He later discovered on 22 October 2024 that his email account had been hacked and that he had not received any confirmation email from the Tribunal. He submitted a second ET1 on 10 November 2024.

The Tribunal held that the normal three-month time limit expired on 9 September 2024, and that the Early Conciliation period extended the limit to 27 October 2024. It accepted that the claim received on 10 November 2024 was therefore out of time. The question was whether it was not reasonably practicable for the claim to be presented in time, and if so whether the later presentation was within a further reasonable period.

The Tribunal found that the hacking of Mr Frost's email account did not explain why the ET1 was not presented on 10 October 2024, because access to email was not needed to submit the claim through the online portal. It considered that the reason the first attempt was not received was unknown, and that there was no evidence that any lack of email access prevented submission. Once Mr Frost knew on 22 October 2024 that he had not received confirmation that the claim had been lodged, the Tribunal held that it was still possible for him to submit another ET1 before 27 October 2024, but he did not do so.

The Tribunal therefore found that it was reasonably practicable for the claim to have been presented in time. It also held that, even if that threshold had been met, the further delay until 10 November 2024 was not a reasonable period. The claim was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.