Mr R Wall v Worldwide Currencies Limited — 2024

The tribunal found that the claimant, who had been employed since 2009, was promoted to Desk Manager in October 2022 on a new job description, increased salary and bonus terms. It held that this was a contractual variation and that the respondent and the claimant both treated the role as a promotion. In July 2023 the respondent decided to revert to the earlier structure, remove the Desk Manager role and place the claimant back into his previous Senior FX Consultant role.

The tribunal rejected the respondent's strike-out application based on alleged witness intimidation. It found no evidence that the claimant's February 2024 contact with former colleagues changed who would give evidence or made a fair hearing impossible. On the facts it accepted, the claimant's conduct was regrettable but not such that it was proportionate to strike out the claim.

On liability, the tribunal held that the removal of the Desk Manager role without the claimant's agreement or any real consultation was a unilateral contractual change. It concluded that the change was significant enough to amount to a 'Hogg v Dover' dismissal because the claimant's Desk Manager contract was effectively withdrawn and inferior terms were imposed. It also held, in the alternative, that the same conduct was a repudiatory breach of contract and of the implied term of mutual trust and confidence, and that the claimant resigned in response on 28 July 2023, so he would have been constructively dismissed in any event.

On remedy, the tribunal awarded a basic award of £8,359 and a compensatory award of £52,834.80, made up of 24 weeks' net pay of £51,584.88 and pension loss of £1,249.92. It made a separate award of £800 for loss of statutory rights, bringing the total award to £61,993.80. It made no reduction for contributory conduct or mitigation, finding that the respondent had enforced restrictive covenants and made data-breach allegations, and that the claimant's later back injury and the surrounding circumstances did not make the delay in finding new work unreasonable.