Late bid to add race and age discrimination claims refused by tribunal

A late amendment that could not be saved

This case shows how strict tribunals can be when a claimant tries to add new discrimination claims long after the original deadline. The former employee of Coventry University had already brought an unfair dismissal claim in time. But when he applied to add race and age discrimination claims over a year after his dismissal, the tribunal said no.

The key problem was timing. The alleged discrimination ended on 26 August 2021, the date of dismissal. Under the Equality Act 2010, a discrimination claim must usually be brought within three months of the last act. The claimant's amendment application came on 5 December 2022 — more than 15 months later. Even allowing for the original unfair dismissal claim being presented on 30 November 2021, the new claims were well outside the primary time limit.

What the losing side could have done differently

The tribunal noted that the claimant's witness statement, exchanged on 1 November 2022, contained the discrimination allegations. But he did not apply to amend until 5 December 2022, over a month later. By then, the respondent had already prepared its case based on the original unfair dismissal claim. The tribunal found that allowing the amendment at that stage would have caused prejudice to Coventry University, which would have needed to investigate and respond to new claims after disclosure and witness statements were finalised.

The claimant, who was representing himself, may not have understood the importance of acting quickly. The tribunal gave him some leeway because of his health issues and lack of representation, but the delay was too significant to overlook.

Why this matters for similar claims

This decision is a reminder that employment tribunals will not automatically allow amendments to add new claims, especially when they are out of time and the case has progressed significantly. If you think you may have a discrimination claim, it is safer to include it in your original ET1 or apply to amend as soon as possible — ideally before any case management hearings or exchange of evidence. Waiting until after witness statements are exchanged makes it much harder to persuade a tribunal that the amendment should be allowed.

The underlying unfair dismissal claim is still to be heard, so this is not the end of the case for the former employee. But the refusal to add the discrimination claims means he will not be able to pursue those allegations in this tribunal.