Case 1805345/2019 · Employment Tribunal
Mrs M Opincariu and others (see schedules) v Universal Books Limited AT A HEARING — 2019
- Case reference
- 1805345/2019
- Decision date
- 10 December 2019
- Jurisdiction
- England & Wales
- Judge
- Employment Judge Lancaster Representation
- Venue
- Leeds
Parties
2 namedClaimant
Mrs M Opincariu and others (see schedules)
Respondent
Key findings
Tribunal's reasoningAt a hearing in Leeds on 10 December 2019, Employment Judge Lancaster found that the correct respondent to all claims was Universal Books Limited. The respondent did not enter an appearance and did not attend. The tribunal held that it had made unauthorised deductions from the wages of each claimant.
The judgment recorded individual compensation awards for the claimants: Nicusor Tarabuta, Angelica Tarabuta, Mariesela Opimcariu, Ciprian Opincariu, Claudiu Comea, Andreea Ungur, Nicu Sorin Tarabuta, Daniel Catalina, Alin Dobrata, Ionut Cotoi, Marius Stefan, Valeria Negru and Sergiu Ungur. The amounts ranged from £769.00 to £2,145.00, and the listed deductions awards totalled £15,389.00.
In addition, the tribunal ordered a further award under section 38 of the Employment Act 2002 because the respondent had not provided written statements of the particulars of employment. That award was 4 weeks' pay for each claimant, calculated on 54 hours per week at the national minimum wage of £8.21 per hour, producing £1,773.36 per claimant. The section 38 awards totalled £23,053.68, bringing the overall total to £38,442.68.
Claims and outcomes
1 finding recorded| Claim type | Issue or finding | Outcome | Protected characteristic | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unlawful deduction from wages | The tribunal found that the respondent had made unauthorised deductions from the wages of each claimant. It listed individual compensation amounts for the named claimants rather than a single sum for the claim type, and it also made a separate section 38 Employment Act 2002 award of 4 weeks' pay per claimant for failure to provide written statements of particulars of employment. | Upheld | — | — |
Remedy
Monetary award- Total award
- £38,443
- across all upheld claims
Official outcome judgment PDF
Gov.uk primary recordThe official judgment PDF on gov.uk contains the tribunal's outcome, reasoning, and any remedy details. Where this page does not yet show extracted outcomes for every claim, use the PDF as the authoritative source.
Published on gov.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
How we got this data
Case essentials (reference, date, judge, venue, country, claim categories) are extracted from the structured metadata gov.uk publishes alongside each decision. Parties and monetary figures are extracted from the judgment PDF text. Key findings and per-claim outcomes require a second extraction pass that is not yet complete for this case — until then, the primary source linked above is the authoritative record. See full methodology.
Named in this case and want it removed? Submit a takedown request. The page will be withdrawn on receipt and the editor will follow up within five working days.