in person For the v Mr P Brown director (from 11.35am) — 2023

The claimant was employed by Forrest Road Brewing Company Limited from 17 November 2021 until 22 August 2022. The tribunal found that he drove beer delivery vans which were on occasion overloaded, that he raised concerns about this on a significant number of occasions, and that he refused to drive an overloaded vehicle. His work was described as satisfactory, including by the production manager, Ms Sarah Dobsen.

The respondent dismissed him by letter dated 22 August 2022, alleging harassment of other employees. The tribunal accepted the claimant's evidence that the stated reason for dismissal changed during the process, including an initial allegation that he had made Mr Tom Cheeseman cry and then a later suggestion that he had made multiple people feel uncomfortable at work. On the evidence accepted by the tribunal, the principal reason for dismissal was the claimant's complaints about the overloading of vehicles and his refusal to drive them, which fell within section 100(1)(c) Employment Rights Act 1996.

The tribunal therefore upheld the unfair dismissal claim brought for raising health and safety concerns. It awarded a basic award of £1,031.25, being one and a half weeks' gross pay, and a compensatory award of £8,405.38 for loss of wages from dismissal to 5 November 2022 and continuing loss until 1 July 2023, when the claimant's hourly rate increased from £11.50 to £13. The tribunal declined to award any further continuing loss or other heads of loss, making a total award of £9,436.63.