Appeal lodged an hour late disallowed

A claimant wishing to lodge an appeal against a Tribunal decision has been time-barred although the application was only made an hour late.

Background

The claimant in this case (J v. K) argued that he was disabled due to depression and anxiety which was caused by his HIV status. This meant, he argued, that he was unable to deal with his admin matters such as this properly.

He also argued that he would suffer significant injustice if a one hour time extension was not allowed. In his previous Tribunal claim he had had an award of £20,000 costs made against him and, he argued, he risked losing his house should the appeal not be successful.

The EAT was not persuaded by these arguments, however. The claimant had not given proper evidence that his disability did affect his ability to get his application in on time, and the time limits were made very clear in the appropriate guidance.

Furthermore, the effect that the £20,000 cost award might have was irrelevant.

The EAT therefore refused to grant the extension of time.

Implications

This is yet another lesson in the importance of meeting deadlines in the Employment Tribunal system. This is particularly the case in the Employment Appeal Tribunal, which takes a particularly draconian approach.

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