The Court of Appeal (Civil Division) handed down judgment in the case of Francois v Hutchinson 3G UK Ltd [2009] WLR (D) 154 on 14th May 2009. The case concerned a procedural point in the appellant’s racial discrimination claim after she had faxed her ET1 form within the normal 3 month deadline with the details of section 6.2 stating “SEE ATTACHED”. No attachment was received so she completed the information by resubmitting another ET1 form within the 14 days requested. The Employment Appeal Tribunal had held that she could not pursue her discrimination claim as they were bound by a pre-hearing review decision.

The Court of Appeal held that it was an “administrative error” to hold the pre hearing review before deciding whether to review the first decision. As the ET1 forms related to the same claim, the second document was not out of time as it was simply a follow up document. As such, the lower Tribunals had focused too much on the administrative error ground and not paid sufficient attention to the “interests of justice.” The appeal was allowed and the decision to reject the claim form would be reviewed.