Richard Pyman v Alitex Ltd — 2026

The Claimant, an installer employed by the Respondent, was dismissed on 9 January 2025 following an allegation made to the brand director, Mrs Hall, by another employee concerning events after the company Christmas party on 19 December 2024. The Respondent at the hearing relied on some other substantial reason (breach of trust arising from the allegation) under s.98(1)(b) ERA 1996, and in the alternative on conduct. The Respondent conceded that the dismissal was procedurally unfair; the Claimant was told at the dismissal meeting that he was being dismissed for poor performance and was not informed of the real reason or given an opportunity to respond to the allegation.

The Tribunal found the complaint of unfair dismissal well-founded. Applying a Polkey analysis, the Tribunal concluded that had a fair investigation of approximately six weeks been carried out, the Respondent would still have preferred the other employee's account, would have continued to have lost trust and confidence in the Claimant, and would have fairly dismissed him on 20 February 2025. Compensation was therefore limited to losses over that six-week period. No reduction was made for contributory conduct, as there had been no investigation to verify the alleged conduct, and no ACAS uplift was applied because the principal reason for dismissal was found to be some other substantial reason.

The Tribunal awarded a basic award of £1,584 (three weeks' gross pay) and a compensatory award of £2,652 (six weeks' net pay).