The claimant was employed as a Business Development Manager from 1st June 2020 until 18th December 2020.  The reason put forward for the dismissal by the respondent was redundancy.   The claimant presented his ET1 form on 18th May 2021 alleging that his dismissal was on the grounds of race as well as bringing a claim for unlawful deduction from wages.

The date of dismissal was disputed with the claimant alleging that it was the 18th January 2021 as he was put on four weeks’ gardening leave.  However, the Tribunal found that it was in December outlining that the last date recording on his P45 was 18th December and a letter sent to the claimant outlined that he was dismissed on 18th December and that he was not required to work his notice.  As a result, this would have given a date of 18th March 2021 to have the ET1 lodged. The Tribunal also acknowledged that even with the claimant’s purported date of dismissal he had still submitted his ET1 out of time. Additionally, the claimant had stated that the discriminatory behaviour faced by the respondent had occurred on 4th November 2020 which would have brought that deadline forward.

There was a preliminary hearing to determine whether the claims would be allowed to continue. The respondent argued that the claims were brought out of time and there were no grounds to allow for an extension.  The claimant outlined that he had faced a number of difficulties leading to the claims being brought out of time. Namely, he outlined medical issues relating to a possible diagnosis of prostate cancer yet the only evidence he had was a diagnosis of haemorrhoids.  He also says that he had sought legal advice from a number of bodies but he did not receive a response.  The Tribunal found that the claimant was a ‘poor witness’ taking into account his intelligence and that he was a well-educated Scientist. As a result, the claim of race discrimination was not allowed to continue.  The Tribunal outlined that they have to examine whether it is just and equitable to extend time.  They found that the likely reason that race discrimination as included, only at the point of ET1, was to allow for a claim to be brought in relation to the dismissal as the claimant did not have the requisite service for an unfair dismissal case.  As a result, this was insufficient and the claim could not continue.  The claim of unlawful deduction from wages was allowed to continue after the respondent accepted that it was brought within time.

Practical Lessons

This case provides yet another explanation of the importance of bringing a claim within time.   It can be very difficult for claimants to demonstrate that time should be extended and where they are seeking to do so they must be able to prove that it is just and equitable in a discrimination case.  Usually, this would be done by showing tangible evidence that they were unable to bring their claim for a particular reason.   In this case, the claimant’s evidence and the lack of weight attached to it by the Tribunal meant that they did not exercise their power to extend time and the race discrimination claim was dismissed.

NI Tribunal decisions are available on the OITFET website:
http://www.employmenttribunalsni.co.uk/