The Claimant brought proceedings following his dismissal on grounds of redundancy from his employment as a Programme Manager and Finance Lead at the British Embassy in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. His claim was dismissed, the ET holding that it did not have territorial jurisdiction to hear the claim, on account of the Claimant’s employment being more closely connected with Tajikistan than with Great Britain. It was also held that the ET lacked jurisdiction to hear the claim because it had been presented significantly after the time limit. The ET held both that it was reasonably practicable for the claim to have been presented within time, and that in any event the claim had not been presented within a reasonable further period after expiry of the time limit. The Claimant appealed.

The EAT dismissed the appeal. The appeal on territorial jurisdiction failed because the ET had reached an evaluative judgment which was open to it on that issue. In particular, the fact that the Respondent was likely to make a successful claim to diplomatic immunity in the Tajik courts, so that the Claimant would have no remedy at all in respect of his dismissal, was not determinative and did not outweigh the various factors which showed a closer connection of his employment with Great Britain. The appeal on limitation was also dismissed. The ET had been entitled to hold that the Claimant had not been justified in delaying his claim on account of wishing to have more certainty as to the facts underlying his dismissal. In any event, the ET’s finding that the claim had not been presented within a reasonable further period could not be criticised.