Mr A Calvert v John Steward Transport Limited — 2024

The claimant, Mr A Calvert, worked for John Steward Transport Limited as an HGV driver from 1 March 2017 until 11 October 2022. The tribunal found that on 11 October 2022 he was told, through Mr Wilkins, that he had to take a different lorry or "pack your stuff and go". Applying an objective test to the words used, the tribunal held that this was a dismissal and that the respondent, not the claimant, ended the employment relationship.

The tribunal rejected the argument that the dismissal was automatically unfair under section 100(1)(d) ERA 1996. It found that the claimant did not believe there were circumstances of serious and imminent danger at the workplace, and that any such belief would in any event have been unreasonable. The claimant's concern was about using a remote-controlled crane on Lewis's lorry, not about imminent danger in the workshop.

On ordinary unfair dismissal, the tribunal accepted that the reason for dismissal was the claimant's refusal to use Lewis's lorry, which it treated as conduct. However, it found that the respondent carried out no real investigation or disciplinary procedure and did not engage with the claimant's reasons for refusing the vehicle. That wholesale procedural failure meant the dismissal fell outside the range of reasonable responses and was unfair. The tribunal also found no Polkey reduction was appropriate, because Mr Steward's evidence was that he did not intend the claimant to be dismissed and, at most, would have issued a final warning.

The tribunal reduced both the basic and compensatory awards by 25% for contributory fault. It found the claimant was blameworthy in the confrontational exchange with Mr Cole on 11 October 2022, including threatening to knock Mr Cole out, but not in maintaining his refusal to drive Lewis's lorry for the short period before dismissal. The final awards were a basic award of £3,211.88 and a compensatory award of £6,878.27, making a total award of £10,090.15. The compensatory award included £6,799.11 for earnings and pension loss, £500 for loss of statutory rights, a 10% ACAS uplift of £729.91, and a £1,142 section 38 award for failure to provide a written statement of terms and conditions.