This case involved an appeal of an Adjudication Officer's decision. The complainant's notice of appeal was received a day outside the statutory time period, however he sought to have the appeal admitted as it was made outside of time due to exceptional circumstances, namely, his solicitor's miscalculation of the relevant date. The complainant claimed he was blameless in the late referral of the appeal, that the delay was entirely the fault of his solicitor as she had been instructed to lodge the appeal and that he was entitled to expect that this would be done within the statutory timeframe.

The complainant's representative submitted that a refusal by the Court to extend the time to bring the appeal would effectively make the complainant vicariously liable for his solicitor's actions. The respondents submitted that the attempted introduction of vicarious liability is misconceived and that the complainant would not become variously liable for the purported wrong despite the consequences of same being suffered by him.

The respondent submitted the complainant had made no enquiries to ensure that the appeal had been submitted on foot of his initial instructions. The complainant's solicitor confirmed that the only explanation for the delay was the miscalculation of the latest date for submission by an online tool she had utilised. The Court agreed with the respondent that the concept of vicarious liability was not a relevant factor. The Court also agreed that the miscalculation of a deadline date does not amount to exceptional circumstances excusing delay.

The Court held that no exceptional circumstances existed to justify the extension of time and therefore the Court had no jurisdiction to hear the appeal.
http://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/Cases/2018/July/TUD1813.html