In person For the v University of Southampton — 2019

At Southampton on 5 June 2019, Employment Judge Emerton sitting alone entered judgment under rule 21 after the respondent did not present a response and was not represented. The tribunal found wrongful dismissal, unfair dismissal, failure to pay holiday pay, direct and indirect discrimination on grounds of religion or belief and race, harassment related to religion or belief and race, and victimisation well founded. It also said the Recoupment Regulations did not apply.

On remedy, the tribunal awarded £12,552.60 for wrongful dismissal notice pay and, because the respondent unreasonably failed to comply with the ACAS Code of Practice, increased that sum by 25% to £15,690.75. For unfair dismissal it awarded a basic award of £9,652.00 and a compensatory award of £500.00 for loss of statutory rights, uplifted by 25% to £625.00. It also awarded £7,945.50 for holiday pay outstanding at termination, uplifted by 25% to £9,931.88.

The discrimination compensation was awarded in several heads. The tribunal awarded £31,000 for injury to feelings, £27,450 for personal injury, £489,937.08 for losses to date, and £1,148,076.72 for future losses; each was increased by 25% under the ACAS uplift to £38,750.00, £34,312.50, £612,421.35, and £1,435,095.90 respectively. The losses to date were said to include unpaid holiday pay from previous years, salary, pension, increased travel costs, unpaid expenses, job-hunting expenses, lack of promotion opportunity, and loss of sabbaticals. Interest was awarded on the discrimination sums in the amounts of £28,587.95, £12,657.08, and £225,907.97. The tribunal said the non-taxable element of compensation, including injury to feelings, personal injury and the associated interest awards, totalled £114,307.53, and it grossed up the remaining balance for tax purposes before stating that the total compensation payable after grossing up was £3,449,328.54.

Under section 124(2)(c) of the Equality Act 2010, the tribunal recommended that the respondent give the claimant access to all emails sent to or received by his Southampton University email address.