Mr J. Richardson v OMD EMEA Limited — 2021

Mr J. Richardson was dismissed by OMD EMEA Limited on 17 July 2020. The tribunal found that the dismissal was for redundancy, but that the process was unfair because the consultation was not fair and genuine, the claimant's scoring was not based on sufficient and accurate information, and the respondent's additional business continuity criterion was not transparently explained or applied.

The tribunal held that those procedural flaws meant the dismissal fell outside the range of reasonable responses under section 98(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996. It also found that, if a fair process had been followed, there was a 50% chance that the claimant would not have been selected and dismissed, so a 50% Polkey reduction was applied to the compensation. The tribunal found that the claimant had mitigated his loss, rejected a discretionary bonus claim, and calculated total compensation for unfair dismissal at £29,694.35 after grossing up.

The claimant also alleged that his contractual notice entitlement had been varied from two months to six months when he was promoted to Executive Director. The tribunal rejected that claim, finding that he had not proved the contract was validly varied and that the copy of the 20 July 2015 promotion letter in the bundle stated that all other terms and conditions remained unchanged.