Practice and Procedure – Extension of Time
The employment tribunal found that the claimant had been sexually harassed by her line manager on three separate occasions. It went on to find that these three incidents amounted together to conduct extending over a period, and accordingly time for presenting a complaint to the tribunal in respect of all of them ran from the date of the last incident. Calculating limitation in that way, these complaints had been presented one day out of time. The tribunal decided it was just and equitable to extend time.
The respondent appealed in respect of the decision to extend time.
Ground 1 contended that, having found that there was no evidence at all as to why the claimant had not presented her claim form sooner than she did, the tribunal was bound to refuse to extend time. This ground failed. Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Local Health Board v Morgan [2018] ICR 1194 considered.
Ground 2 contended that the tribunal had erred in its approach to the question of forensic prejudice to the respondent. This ground succeeded. The tribunal erred by confining its consideration of that question to whether any such prejudice had been occasioned by the complaints being one day out of time, and by failing to take into account its own earlier findings about forensic prejudice when determining a complaint of racial harassment relating to one of the three incidents found to amount to sexual harassment. Adedeji v University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust [2021] EWCA Civ 23 considered.
Citations:
[2022] EAT 149
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Employment
Updated: 11 October 2022; Ref: scu.681359