Mrs K Trigg-Knight v Monarch Airlines Limited (in Administration) — 2017

Monarch Airlines Limited went into administration on 2 October 2017 and staff were made redundant without notice that day. Mrs K Trigg-Knight was a cabin crew employee based at Gatwick and was treated as an affected employee. Employment Judge Smail dealt with the matter on the papers and applied the evidence from Unite the Union's group claims to her individual claim, because her evidential position was the same as the union-backed claims.

The tribunal found that Gatwick, and the other airports listed in the reasons, were each an 'establishment' for the purposes of s.188 TULRCA 1992, that 20 or more redundancies were proposed at each, and that Unite was the appropriate representative of the workforce. It found that there was no consultation at all with the union about the proposed redundancies, no opportunity for the union to make proposals about saving the business in whole or in part, and only three days' notice of a possible insolvency event.

Applying the guidance in Susie Radin Ltd v GMB, the tribunal found no mitigating circumstance that justified reducing the maximum protective award. The judge said that three days' notice of a possible insolvency event was not consultation and that there was no evidence that would justify less than the maximum award. A protective award of 90 days' pay was therefore made for the claimant, running from 2 October 2017.

The judgment also records that if the First Respondent is insolvent, the Second Respondent must meet the First Respondent's liability for the protective award, subject to the statutory limit in s.184 ERA 1996.