Miss Lucy Thorn v Mr Anthony Fish T/A Sound Service Property — 2025

The claimant brought claims of age discrimination, unauthorised deduction from wages, and accrued but unpaid annual leave. The holiday pay claim had been dismissed following withdrawal before the final hearing. The tribunal considered the remaining age discrimination allegations and the wages claim.

On age discrimination, the tribunal found that the respondent had established non-discriminatory reasons for the matters complained of. It accepted that the pay difference reflected differences in relevant experience and role focus, that the decision not to award a pay increase followed limited time worked and incomplete project work, and that the office key decision reflected the respondent's keyholding practice. It also accepted the respondent's explanations about the HMO inspection invitation, the handling of the grievance, and the criticism of the claimant after she arranged to attend a rescheduled inspection.

On final pay, the tribunal found that the claimant did not work after 10:30am on 7 March 2024, had not obtained authorisation to leave work, and did not make herself available to work before resigning. It found no contractual basis requiring payment for the later dates claimed and dismissed both the age discrimination allegation about final pay and the unauthorised deduction from wages claim.