Olugboyega Awonuga v Inrenos 2 Ltd — 2021

The claimant worked for Inrenos 2 Ltd from July 2021 to October 2021 running two fitness clubs on an annual salary of £35,000. After he emailed on 8 October 2021 saying he wished to resign and proposed 22 October 2021 as his final day, Mr Malik told him by phone that he should work only one week's notice. The tribunal accepted the claimant's evidence about the call and found that, although he used the phrase "Why are you talking shit?", that was a one-off instance of swearing in a difficult conversation and was misconduct rather than gross misconduct.

On that basis, the tribunal held that the claimant was entitled to notice and that dismissal without notice was a breach of contract. It found he was entitled to one week's notice and awarded damages of £673.07 gross for the wrongful dismissal / notice pay claim. The tribunal contrasted the facts with Wilson v Racher rather than Pepper v Webb when assessing whether the conduct justified summary dismissal.

The tribunal also found that the respondent had deducted £600.45 from the claimant's final salary for alleged unreturned property. The deductions were made up of £397.75 for 37 missing fobs at £10.75 each, £73.37 for uniform items, and £129.33 for a laptop. It rejected the respondent's case on the fobs and uniform, finding the claimant was not in possession of them and that the stock control system was not robust enough to support the deductions.

As to the laptop, the tribunal accepted that it had been returned and rejected the invitation to read into the handbook term a broader rule that returned property in an unsatisfactory condition could be treated as never returned. It therefore held that all of the challenged deductions were unauthorised and ordered repayment of the full £600.45 gross. The bottom-line award was £1,273.52 gross.