Personnel Today readers no doubt thought the case of National Grid worker John Beasley - who was denied the chance to prove unfair dismissal when he e-mailed his claim one minute and 28 seconds past the midnight deadline - was amusing.
But top barrister Daniel Barnett has now alerted us to an even closer shave.
A law student representing the claimant, D Miller, hit the 'submit' button on the Employment Tribunal Service (ETS) website at one second before midnight on the last day for presentation of an ET1 claim. It arrived on the ETS server at eight seconds past midnight.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has now ruled that the claim was out of time.
The tribunal held that it was "reasonably practicable" for the claim form to have been submitted in time and both Miller and his representative were fully aware of the deadline.
It beggars belief that you would leave something as important as this to the last second, especially when you've got three months to submit a claim.
The guy doesn't deserve our sympathy, so let's all enjoy the sheer stupidity of the case.
Comments (1)
Well said that man. Too often do we have to put up with such X*&%. I say we should lobby for an Employer Rights Bill in 2008???
Posted by Scott McArthur | November 5, 2007 5:42 PM
Posted on November 5, 2007 17:42