Claimant v ABCDE1 Limited (in Administration)
Outcome
Individual claims
The tribunal found that the letter dismissing the claimant for gross misconduct was without merit and was nothing more than a shameless attempt to avoid paying redundancy pay to an employee with a long record of service with the company. The dismissal was therefore unfair.
The tribunal awarded the claimant one day of accrued but untaken holiday pay in the sum of £116.56.
The tribunal awarded notice pay in the sum of £8,741.16, indicating the claimant succeeded in her breach of contract claim for failure to provide proper notice.
Facts
Ms. Williams was dismissed for gross misconduct by ABCDE1 Limited, a company that subsequently went into administration. The tribunal found that the dismissal was pretextual and designed to avoid paying redundancy to a long-serving employee. The claimant was also owed one day's holiday pay and notice pay. The first respondent did not attend but consented to the proceedings continuing. The Secretary of State was added as second respondent in relation to claims arising from the company's insolvency.
Decision
The tribunal found the dismissal was unfair and awarded a basic award of £13,503, notice pay of £8,741.16, and holiday pay of £116.56. A 25% ACAS uplift of £5,590.18 was applied for breach of the ACAS code, bringing the total award to £27,950.90. Claims against the Secretary of State were dismissed as premature since no application had yet been made for payment from the National Insurance Fund.
Practical note
Tribunals will robustly condemn dismissals for gross misconduct that are transparently designed to avoid redundancy payments, and will apply maximum ACAS uplifts where procedural failures are egregious.
Award breakdown
Adjustments
The First Respondent acted in a manner which breached the ACAS code, resulting in a 25% uplift of £5,590.18 on top of the damages awarded
Legal authorities cited
Case details
- Case number
- 2303022/2024
- Decision date
- 6 January 2025
- Hearing type
- full merits
- Hearing days
- 1
- Classification
- contested
Respondent
- Sector
- other
- Represented
- No
Claimant representation
- Represented
- Yes
- Rep type
- barrister