Mr A Tweedale v Tithe Barn Club (Aldwick) Limited — 2023

Mr Tweedale, who had worked for the Respondent since 1 October 1995, was summarily dismissed on 27 April 2022 after more than 26 years' service. He had also raised a refund-of-rent point and an alleged promise of a 'retirement pot'; the Tribunal said it had no jurisdiction over the rent point and saw no evidence of a binding contract for the retirement pot, so those matters were not dealt with further.

On unfair dismissal, the Tribunal held that the Respondent had not shown that the principal reason for dismissal was conduct. It found that the real reason was Mr Raymond Downs' wish to start afresh after Phillip Downs' association with the business had ended. Even if the dismissal letter's reasons were treated as conduct reasons, only the Dos Santos letting issue could properly amount to misconduct; the other alleged matters were not made out on the evidence. The Tribunal also found that the Respondent had not carried out as much investigation as was reasonable, because there was no prior disciplinary process and no proper investigatory meeting with Mr Tweedale before dismissal.

The Tribunal therefore upheld unfair dismissal, applied a 25% reduction for contributory conduct under ss.122(2) and 123(6) ERA 1996, and applied a 25% uplift under s.207A TULRCA because the ACAS Code had not been followed. It held that the dismissal was also wrongful dismissal because the Dos Santos issue did not amount to a repudiatory breach in context, particularly as Mr Tweedale had consulted Phillip Downs and believed he was acting in the Company's interests. Holiday pay under the Working Time Regulations was upheld by consent at £942 gross. The unfair dismissal award was recorded as a basic award of £11,991 and a compensatory award of £33,020, and the judgment recorded a total monetary award of £51,785, a prescribed element of £11,236, and an amount by which the award exceeded the prescribed element of £40,549.