The claimant lost his claim for unfair dismissal and went on to appeal this decision. However, he did not file the necessary documentation with the Notice of Appeal, as prescribed by the 2005 Practice Direction and which he had received, within 42 days of the written reasons being supplied by the ET. The Registrar refused to exercise her discretion and did not allow the Notice of Appeal. The claimant then filed a second appeal against this refusal to extend the time, again filing this new appeal late, contrary to Rule 21(2).

The EAT held that an extension under Rule 37(1) in respect of the second appeal would be granted, as the Registrar had failed to provide the claimant with information on how to appeal her refusal to extend time. However, the EAT upheld the original decision by the Registrar not to extend time for filing complete documents with the Notice of Appeal. The Practice Direction makes it clear what documents need to be filed with the Notice of Appeal and the judge added that there was no special treatment for litigants in person, which the claimant was. Also, the judge took into account that the appeal would have no prospect of success even if he did exercise his discretion in favour of extension of time.