Remploy Ltd v Shaw: UKEAT/452/08
EAT: Judge McMullen QC: 16 February 2009
When the claimant was dismissed for gross misconduct she appealed, and her internal appeal was ongoing at the expiry of the three-month time limit, under section 111(2) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, for
bringing an unfair dismissal claim. Relying on the three-month extension of time for bringing a claim provided for by regulation 15 of the Employment Act 2002 (Dispute Resolution) Regulations 2004, she made no claim until she was notified that her appeal had failed, which was two months after the expiry of the extended period.
An employment judge decided that it was not "reasonably practicable" for the claimant to have presented her claim until after she had been notified of the result of the internal appeal and that the tribunal had jurisdiction to hear her claim pursuant to section 111(2)(b).
The employer appealed.
JUDGE McMULLEN QC held:
Regulation 15 of the Employment Act 2002 (Dispute Resolution) Regulations 2004 gave a claimant an extended period of three months within which to make a claim if at the expiry of the primary limitation period she reasonably believed that a dismissal or disciplinary procedure was ongoing, but the claim had to be commenced by the expiry of that extended period, even if the claimant reasonably believed that a procedure was still being followed. The claimant could not rely on regulation 15 alone to say that it was not reasonably
practicable for her to have presented the claim in time, for the purposes of section 111(2) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, and the matter would be remitted for a tribunal to consider whether the reason the claimant did not make her claim in time was more than simple observance of the internal appeal procedure.
The appeal was allowed.
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