Mr Daniel Williams v Jaguar Land Rover Limited — 2023

The claimant's claims for unfair dismissal and discrimination arising from disability under section 15 Equality Act 2010 had succeeded, and this judgment determined remedy. The tribunal found the dismissal was the act of unlawful discrimination and decided that loss of earnings should be awarded as discrimination compensation rather than as an unfair dismissal compensatory award, to avoid double recovery.

The tribunal rejected the respondent's submission that the claimant would have been dismissed fairly within a short period or within six months. It found there was no evidence from which it could conclude that his employment would have ended during the Covid pandemic or afterwards, and accepted that he would probably have returned to full-time work by 2 March 2020 if not dismissed.

On mitigation, the tribunal found that the claimant had taken reasonable steps to minimise his losses, taking account of his manufacturing background, inability to drive, childcare responsibilities, location and the Covid pandemic. It accepted that retraining as a plumber was not unreasonable and that loss of earnings would cease by July 2024. It awarded £10,000 for injury to feelings for the one-off but serious dismissal, declined to reduce discrimination compensation for contributory fault, but made a 10% deduction to the unfair dismissal basic and compensatory awards because one non-disability-related absence amounted to blameworthy conduct contributing to dismissal.