Mr N Darling v ICTS (UK) Limited — 2025

The Tribunal found that the claimant had not produced evidence sufficient to raise doubt that the reason or principal reason for dismissal was his alleged assertion of a statutory right. It concluded that the automatic unfair dismissal complaint under section 104 ERA was not well-founded.

For the ordinary unfair dismissal claim, the Tribunal accepted that the respondent had identified some other substantial reason arising from third-party pressure, after Croydon University Hospital did not permit employees released under investigation to return while the police investigation continued. The dismissal was nevertheless unfair because the respondent did not take proactive steps to consider alternative employment with the claimant, and that lack of action fell outside the range of reasonable responses.

The wages claim concerned unpaid suspension from 12 May 2022 to 9 June 2022 and payment of statutory sick pay rather than full pay during sickness absence from 1 August 2022 to dismissal. The Tribunal concluded that the claimant's bail conditions meant he was not able to work during the suspension period, that the contract permitted unpaid suspension in the circumstances, and that the contract and handbook did not entitle him to full pay while absent due to sickness.