Labour Court refuses Shane Gutkin's application to extend appeal deadline

The Labour Court refused Shane Gutkin’s application to extend the deadline for his unfair-dismissal appeal, finding that exceptional circumstances had not been established. The determination was signed on 29 April 2016; the complaint’s merits were not decided. Gutkin said his union had placed the appeal notice with other correspondence for registered post on 2 October 2015, during a postal strike, and that the notice was found at the union office on 27 October. Sap Landscapes Limited argued that the one-day strike did not prevent a timely appeal and said the union had told its representative on 4 November that it had received no instruction to appeal. The Court noted inconsistencies in Gutkin’s account, the uncontroverted account of the 4 November conversation, and the absence of evidence about the union’s internal postal record.