The Employment Appeal Tribunal (‘EAT’) has upheld a Tribunal’s decision that it was not reasonably practicable for the Claimant to present his claim before the determination of his internal appeal and that he had presented his claim within a reasonable period of time thereafter.
Unfair Dismissal Time Limit
In this case, the Claimant was dismissed on 13th March 2010. He therefore had, under the three month time limit, until 12th June 2010 to present an unfair dismissal claim. The Claimant appealed the decision to dismiss him and on 28th June 2010 was sent a letter dismissing his appeal. The Claimant was on holiday at this time and did not receive the letter until mid July 2010. The Claimant submitted his claim on 21st July 2010.
The Tribunal held that the Claimant’s ignorance of the time limit rendered it impractical for him to bring proceedings in time. Also, it was reasonable for him not to explore legal recourse until the outcome of his internal appeal. Further to this the Tribunal found that the Claimant had presented his claim within a reasonable period of time, due to the fact that as soon as the Claimant had learned that his appeal had been unsuccessful he had spoken promptly to his father who submitted the claim on his behalf within a few days.
The EAT upholding the Tribunal’s decision stated that the existence of a pending internal appeal is not in itself sufficient to justify a finding that it was not reasonably practicable for the Claimant to bring a tribunal complaint in time. The test to be applied is whether a Claimant’s ignorance of a relevant time limit is reasonable.
Additional Case Law
The case of Marks and Spencer plc v Williams-Ryan is another case in which an employee pursuing an internal appeal was held to be reasonably ignorant of the unfair dismissal time limit and allowed to bring a claim out of time. However, in the more recent case of Reed in Partnership Ltd v Fraine, the EAT found that the Claimant’s ignorance was not reasonable.
As the cases detailed above demonstrate each case will turn on its own facts. However, employers should be aware that it is possible for successful claims to be brought after the three month time limit has elapsed if the Claimant can successfully show they were reasonably ignorant of the time limit.
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