Mrs Amy Rothwell v Gray's Inn Medical Group Limited and 1 other — 2025

The claimant, a Practice Nurse and Head of Nursing employed by the first respondent from 15 February 2021, brought claims for unauthorised deductions from wages and for detriment on grounds of trade union membership. The tribunal found that deductions totalling £9,146.64 gross had been made from her wages on 31 January 2024, 31 March 2024 and 30 April 2024 in respect of aesthetics training costs and unpaid leave. The tribunal held that there was no written term of the contract authorising the deductions and that her thumbs-up response to a WhatsApp message did not amount to agreement in writing for the purposes of s.13 ERA 1996, since an emoji does not represent or reproduce a word in visible form under the Interpretation Act 1978. The claimant had also incurred £800 in interest on borrowings of £4,000 made as a result of the deductions, which was awarded under s.24(2) ERA 1996.

On the trade union detriment complaint, the tribunal found that the claimant was a member of the Royal College of Nursing and that the second respondent had provided a reference for her on 12 March 2024 describing her as "a unionist" in negative terms. Applying the Shamoon test, the tribunal concluded that a reasonable worker would or might take the view that being referred to as a unionist in a negative reference was to her disadvantage, and that the sole or main purpose of the reference was to penalise her for being a trade union member. The complaint under s.146(1)(a) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 was well founded.

The tribunal awarded £4,000 for injury to feelings, placing the award in the lower Vento band on the basis that the reference was a one-off incident. The claimant's evidence that she found the reference hurtful, unnecessary and demeaning was accepted.