Mr D Mason v Eastman Staples Ltd Heard: via Cloud Video Platform — 2023

At the final hearing, the tribunal found that Mr D Mason was employed by Eastman Staples Ltd and not by Andrew Kyprianou. The offer letter was on Eastman Staples Ltd headed paper, the claimant was paid by Eastman Staples Ltd, and there was no evidence that Mr Kyprianou was his employer, so Mr Kyprianou was removed as a respondent.

On unfair dismissal, the tribunal found that the respondent had not adduced any evidence of a fair reason for dismissal or of a fair procedure. It accepted the claimant's evidence that he was not guilty of gross misconduct, and it found that there had been no investigation meeting, that some allegations were not even put to him at the disciplinary hearing, and that no appeal meeting was arranged. The unfair dismissal claim therefore succeeded.

The tribunal also found that Eastman Staples Ltd breached the claimant's contract by dismissing him without the 12 weeks' notice to which he was entitled or paying him in lieu. It made no separate damages award for that breach because the notice period was already covered by the unfair dismissal award. Separately, it held that the respondent unlawfully deducted wages by failing to pay salary and car allowance for October 2022, when the claimant had worked until 21 October 2022.

For remedy, the tribunal awarded a basic award of £1,713 and a compensatory award of £10,005.52 for unfair dismissal, including £350 for loss of statutory rights and financial loss to 27 February 2023 less earnings and pension contributions from Sainsbury's. It awarded £1,997.52 for the unlawful deduction claim, producing a total award of £13,716.04. Paragraph 54 contains an arithmetic inconsistency in the reasons, but the ordered figures are those set out in paragraphs 57 and 58.