This appeal dealt with the preliminary issue of whether the complainant had reasonable cause to extend their time to submit a complaint of alleged discrimination based on age. The complainant had brought her complaint 23 days outside the statutory time limit of six months. The complainant alleged that she had seriously considered referring a complaint within the statutory time limit but had made a decision not to for a number of reasons. These reasons included the fact she had suffered no financial loss as a result of her forced retirement, she didn't want to be reinstated to the company and she had negative experiences previously with the company's grievance procedures.

However, when she met an ex-colleague a few months later she discovered that all employees were in line for redundancy payments. At this point she realised that if she hadn't been forced to retire then she would have been eligible for such a payment. She then proceeded to file a complaint in December 2015, but this was allegedly delayed due to the Christmas holiday period.

The Court found that the complainant had consciously decided not to initially pursue a complaint, but stressed that these reasons did not impede her from making a different decision. The Court also pointed out that after meeting her former colleague in December 2015 she still had time to commence proceedings within the statutory time limit.  Accordingly, the Court found that nothing, other than her own decision, prevented her initiating her claim within the time limit and disallowed the appeal.
https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/Cases/2017/June/EDA1719.html