| Employment Appeal Tribunal - John Lewis Partnership v Charman |
Background/factsUnder the Employment Rights Act 1996, a complaint for Unfair Dismissal must be brought within 3 months beginning with the effective date of termination (Section 111) or within such further period as the Tribunal considers reasonable in a case where it is satisfied that it was not reasonably practicable for the complaint to be presented before the end of that period of 3 months. Tribunals have generally been strict on the interpretation of “reasonable practicality” to bring the claim within the 3 months or within a reasonable practicably period thereafter. In this case the employee was dismissed on 13 March 2010 which meant he had to submit his claim by 12 June 2010. The Claimant, who was not aware of the time limits, attended an appeal hearing on 24 May 2010 and was still awaiting the outcome of the appeal when the normal time limit passed. The Claimant was sent a letter dated 28 June 2010 finally dismissing his appeal. The Claimant’s claim was presented on 21 July 2010, well outside the 3 month time period. Decision/CommentThe EAT upheld the Tribunal’s decision as it had not been reasonably practicable for the Claimant to present the claim before the determination of his internal appeal and that he had presented the claim within a reasonable period thereafter. The EAT confirmed that whether it is reasonably practicable for a claim to be brought within a time limit is a question of fact for a Tribunal and it will only be overturned if the decision is found to be perverse at the EAT. In our view the worrying aspect of this case was that the Tribunal effectively found that ignorance of the law was a mitigating circumstance in the employee not submitting his claim in time. The employee, who was relatively young, claimed he had no knowledge of the law or any right to bring an Unfair Dismissal claim and that was taken into account by the Judge. In our view it is likely that Claimants’ solicitors will rely on this case in the future and we will see more litigation where employees plead ignorance as an excuse for missing the statutory time limits.
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