Case 2204378/2021 · Employment Tribunal
Ms E M da Costa v Soho Restaurants Limited — 2021
- Case reference
- 2204378/2021
- Decision date
- 7 April 2021
- Jurisdiction
- England & Wales
- Judge
- Employment Judge Smailes
Parties
2 namedClaimant
Ms E M da Costa
Respondent
Key findings
Tribunal's reasoningMs E M da Costa was employed by Soho Restaurants Ltd as a waitress from 04 August 2020. She was placed on furlough on 09 November 2020 on 80% pay. The tribunal accepted that she was paid at the furlough rate of GBP 280 gross per week, and that the last payment made to her was for the week up to and including 05 March 2021. It also found that a later payment of GBP 73.58 net on 16 April 2021 was for accrued annual leave.
The tribunal found that the claimant did not receive any dismissal email before 07 April 2021. On reconsideration, it treated the text exchange with the director on 07 April 2021 as a direct communication that her employment had come to an end, and found that this amounted to summary dismissal on that date. The tribunal rejected the P45 date of 11 April 2021 and varied the original judgment to reflect 07 April 2021 as the effective date of termination.
On the unlawful deduction from wages claim, the tribunal held that the failure to pay the claimant from 06 March 2021 to 07 April 2021 was an unbroken series of deductions from wages and that the claim was in time. It awarded GBP 1,274.68 gross for that period, calculated on the furlough rate of GBP 280 gross per week, subject to deductions for tax and national insurance.
On the breach of contract claim, the tribunal held that the claimant was dismissed without notice and was not paid in lieu. As she was entitled to one week's notice, damages were assessed on her normal gross weekly pay of GBP 350. The reconsidered judgment therefore ordered payment of GBP 1,274.68 for unpaid wages and GBP 350 for notice pay, with a total award of GBP 1,624.68.
Claims and outcomes
2 findings recorded| Claim type | Issue or finding | Outcome | Protected characteristic | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unlawful deduction from wages | The tribunal found that the claimant was not paid from 06 March 2021 to 07 April 2021, that this formed an unbroken series of deductions from wages, and that the gross amount due was £1,274.68. | Upheld | — | £1,275 |
| Breach of contract | The tribunal found that the claimant was dismissed without notice and was not paid in lieu of notice. Damages were assessed at one week's normal gross pay of £350. | Upheld | — | £350 |
Remedy
Monetary award- Total award
- £1,625
- across all upheld claims
Legal tests applied
5 references- s.13(1) ERA 1996
- s.23 ERA 1996
- s.23(3) ERA 1996
- Bear Scotland v Fulton
- s.86(1)(a) ERA 1996
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.
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