EAT Bodha was dismissed for professional misconduct on 23 December after a disciplinary hearing. On 24 December the employers wrote to him informing him of their decision stating that any internal appeal should be made within 21 days.
The employee was advised by his Union to use the internal disciplinary procedure and then, if that was unsuccessful, to make a complaint of unfair dismissal to an Industrial Tribunal, even if it meant that the application to the Tribunal would be late.
The internal appeal was dismissed on 15 April and the employee then presented his complaint to the Industrial Tribunal. The Tribunal held that it was reasonably practicable for the complaint to have been presented in time. Held The employee’s appeal was dismissed.
Browne-Wilkinson J discussed applications to extend the time for filing an unfair dismissal claim: ‘There may be cases where the special facts (additional to the fact that there is an internal appeal pending) may persuade an industrial tribunal, as a question of fact, that it was not reasonably practicable to complain to the industrial tribunal within the time limit. But we do not think that the mere fact of a pending internal appeal, by itself, is sufficient to justify a finding of fact that it was not ‘reasonably practicable’ to present a complaint to the industrial tribunal.’
and ‘The statutory test remains one of practicability. The statutory words still require the Industrial Tribunal to have regard to what could be done albeit what is practicable in an common-sense way. The statutory test is not satisfied just because it was reasonable not to do what could be done . . Reasonably practicable means ‘reasonable capable of being done’ not ‘reasonable’.
Judges:
Browne-Wilkinson J P
Citations:
[1982] ICR 200
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – The Royal Bank of Scotland Plc v Theobald EAT 10-Jan-2007
EAT Claim for unfair dismissal not presented timeously, within three months, but was presented thirteen days thereafter. During most of the three month period, the Claimant had an outstanding appeal process . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Employment
Updated: 07 May 2022; Ref: scu.383829