A disability discrimination claim brought by a Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) station commander against his employer has been dismissed after an Employment Tribunal found it was lodged outside the statutory three-month time limit and that it would not be just and equitable to extend that deadline. The judgment in case 6207/25IT was issued on 6 February 2026 following a preliminary hearing held in Belfast on 20 November 2025.

John Hegarty, who has been employed by NIFRS since May 2003 and held the temporary rank of Station Commander, brought a claim of disability discrimination under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. Hegarty, who has dyslexia, alleged that the respondent failed to implement agreed reasonable adjustments during a Station Commander recruitment process in 2024. He claimed this failure resulted in him placing 27th out of 35 candidates on the merit list, affecting his ability to secure a suitable posting in Northern Ireland.

Hegarty had been assessed by a chartered psychologist in 2018, and reasonable adjustments were agreed with NIFRS in 2019. Prior to his interview on 22 April 2024, he contacted HR to confirm those adjustments would be in place but was told they would not. Following notification of his placement position in July 2024, Hegarty entered into an extended period of internal correspondence with the respondent, which continued until December 2024. He lodged his tribunal claim on 21 December 2024.

Employment Judge Sheils, sitting alone, found that the time limit relating to the alleged disadvantage at interview had lapsed on 21 July 2024 - three months less one day from the date of the interview. The claimant's first written complaint to the respondent, sent on 29 July 2024, was already outside that limit. The tribunal found that the claimant's argument that the late submission was caused by his pursuit of an internal resolution was undermined by this chronology.

The tribunal also rejected Hegarty's claim that he was unaware he could bring a disability discrimination claim or that such claims were subject to time limits. The judge noted that Hegarty was a long-standing and active member of the Fire Brigades Union who had previously advised fellow members on employment disputes, making his claimed ignorance of time limits unreliable. The tribunal further found that Hegarty had received explicit written warnings about strict statutory time limits from the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland in October 2024, with those warnings written in capital letters in the Commission's correspondence.

A separate issue arose during the hearing regarding Hegarty's witness statement. The claimant confirmed he had used artificial intelligence to assist in preparing the document, which the tribunal described as "a very disturbing development," noting that witness statements are adopted as sworn testimony. The tribunal found that the AI had provided an incorrect analysis of a relevant case - Dornan v Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland 2022 - a judgment that a previous employment judge had specifically drawn to Hegarty's attention at a case management hearing as likely to present difficulties for his own case, directing him to two sources where it could be found. The claimant said he had been unable to locate it.

The tribunal concluded that Hegarty had failed to establish that it would be just and equitable to extend the time limit and dismissed the claim for want of jurisdiction. NIFRS was represented by counsel Stuart Magee, instructed by solicitor John Magee of Belfast City Council. Hegarty represented himself.