Unfair dismissal: no response costs employer £50,000
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Mark Bentley (B) had been employed by Ted Baker (TB) as its head of European retail, based in Glasgow. In 2020 TB consulted with B about his potential redundancy.
B’s redundancy was confirmed in July 2020 and his employment with TB was terminated at that point.
Tribunal matter
B subsequently issued a tribunal claim for unfair dismissal , in which he challenged the fairness of TB’s redundancy decision on several grounds. These included flaws in TB’s consultation process and failures in relation to offering him suitable alternative employment.
Compensatory award
B won his unfair dismissal claim and was awarded a total of £50,859 (see The next step ). The reason why he succeeded was pretty simple: TB did not respond to his claim or make any appearance at the tribunal.
Consequently, the tribunal found in B’s favour. TB has since stated that it “did not receive notification of this claim at the time” and it intends to appeal.
Lost claim
Whilst tribunal claim notifications can go astray, and this may potentially provide grounds for an appeal, an employer not knowing anything about a claim whatsoever is a rare situation.
Not only will the employer have likely been contacted by Acas during the early conciliation (EC) period, but it will receive several notifications from the tribunal, including a copy of the claim form, advice on how to file a response, any preliminary rulings and the hearing details.
Other contact
Acas can also contact all parties after the EC period has ended and where an employee is legally represented. There may also be correspondence from a lawyer or union rep. So, it remains to be seen if TB will be successful in its appeal. But how could this situation, the messy fallout and a possible appeal have been entirely avoided?
Settlement agreement
TB could have tied B’s redundancy up in a robust settlement agreement (see The next step ).
Tip. When an employee enters into a settlement agreement, they are barred from bringing most employment claims, including unfair dismissal . Thus, if the employer’s redundancy procedure was flawed, there’s nothing they can do about it.
Tip. The only claims an employee can usually lawfully bring are: breach of the settlement agreement itself, e.g. if the employer doesn’t pay the agreed financial settlement in full, a claim for personal injury brought about in the course of employment which was not known about at the time the settlement agreement was signed, and claims in relation to pension rights.
For the tribunal’s ruling in this case and a settlement agreement, visit https://www.tips-and-advice.co.uk , Download Zone, year 23, issue 18.
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