Employment Appeal Tribunal Grants Extension After Administrative Filing Error
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has granted an extension of time after a solicitor's filing error meant the required judgment was not uploaded in time.
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Administrative error leads to EAT appeal extension
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has allowed an appeal to proceed despite the claimant failing to file the required judgment documents before the statutory deadline. The case, Rogers v Secretary of State for Justice, serves as a reminder of the strict requirements for instituting an appeal.
The nature of the error
The claimant's solicitors submitted a Notice of Appeal one day before the deadline expired. However, they inadvertently uploaded a covering letter labelled as the judgment rather than the actual judgment and reasons. This error was not identified until the EAT notified the solicitors seventeen days later. The solicitors rectified the mistake immediately upon being alerted to the issue.
Tribunal's decision on procedural compliance
His Honour Judge James Tayler addressed whether this failure constituted a minor error under the EAT Rules. He concluded that it did not. Because the judgment and reasons are core documents necessary for the tribunal to understand the decision under challenge, their omission was significant.
Despite this, the Judge exercised his judicial discretion to grant an extension of time. He noted that while there was no good excuse for the mistake, the claimant had lodged the Notice of Appeal and grounds within the timeframe. Drawing on guidance from Ridley v HB Kirtley, the court found that the balance of justice favoured allowing the appeal to proceed. The respondent suffered no specific prejudice, and the delay was rectified promptly once identified.
Read the entire judgment here: Rogers v Secretary of State for Justice [2026] EAT 78
