Miss E Colebatch, Pro Bono Rep For the v Mr J Townsend, Solicitor Spanish Interpreter: Miss Fabiola Berta — 2019

Mr G Calderon Sabogal worked as a cleaner for Zing Environments Limited from 6 September 2016 until his dismissal on 19 October 2017. The tribunal found that he had been told by the on-site supervisor, PSS, to climb on tables to manually roll broken blinds, contrary to the respondent's health and safety policy, and accepted his evidence that he reasonably believed the practice was unsafe. It also accepted that he raised this with the area manager, IN, on 12 October 2017.

The tribunal concluded that the reporting of those health and safety concerns was the principal reason for dismissal within section 100(1)(c) ERA 1996. It relied on the timing of the dismissal, the contents of the management report, the absence of any investigation or disciplinary process, and the tribunal's view that the respondent's explanation based on conduct/performance issues was given more prominence after the event than it had at the time. The automatic unfair dismissal claim therefore succeeded.

The section 44 detriment claim failed. The claimant said the detriments were being pressed to do unsafe work and being asked to sign an inaccurate statement, but the tribunal found that the only harm flowing from the request to sign the statement was the dismissal itself, and dismissal cannot constitute a detriment for section 44 ERA 1996. On remedy, the tribunal noted that the claimant had taken no steps to mitigate loss and considered that comparable work should have been found within four weeks. It awarded a basic award of £478.13 and a compensatory award of £1,127.08, making a total award of £1,605.21.