Mrs A Niksic Respondent (1): Town and Country Financial Services (UK) Ltd Respondent (2): Town and Country Insurance Brokers Ltd Heard: By CVP v Respondent — 2021

The tribunal held that Mrs A Niksic's employer was Town and Country Insurance Brokers Ltd, not Town and Country Financial Services (UK) Ltd. It found the contractual documents reflected the parties' intention and that the employment had transferred to the second respondent under TUPE with effect from 1 January 2016. The first respondent was therefore dismissed from the proceedings.

On the wages claim, the tribunal found that the claimant's move to associate director was agreed in September 2018 on the basis of a basic salary of £25,000 plus a non-contractual bonus of up to £5,000, subject to conditions including qualification and recruiting and training a replacement. It rejected the claimant's case that she was entitled to a guaranteed £30,000 salary from March 2019. It also found that the compassionate leave payment was discretionary and not money properly payable, and that the deductions made at termination were authorised by the contract and the training-cost arrangements. The tribunal accordingly dismissed the unlawful deduction from wages claim, and said it would in any event have been out of time.

On unfair dismissal, the tribunal found that the claimant sent 69 emails from her work account to her personal email or her husband's email between 5 and 10 December 2019, including emails containing client renewal information, staff salary information and candidate CVs. It accepted that Mr Dickinson genuinely believed this amounted to gross misconduct, that the claimant had received relevant handbook and GDPR training, and that the investigation, disciplinary hearing and appeal were reasonable in all the circumstances. The tribunal held that dismissal fell within the band of reasonable responses and rejected the suggestion that the dismissal was retaliation for the claimant's grievance. It also found that, if unfair dismissal had been made out, contributory conduct would have justified a 100% reduction.