Case 2305734/2023 · Employment Tribunal

Donna Pendry v The Over 21 Club — 2024

Case reference: 2305734/2023
Decision date: 23 April 2024
Jurisdiction: England & Wales
Judge: Employment Judge Yardley
Venue: London South

Indexed: 17 May 2026

Parties

2 named

Claimant

Donna Pendry

Respondent

The Over 21 Club

Key findings

Tribunal's reasoning

The Claimant, an Assistant Manager employed from 9 September 2017, was dismissed without notice on 28 September 2023 after being accused of removing stock (two small bottles of prosecco and assorted soft drink cans) from the Club without authority or payment. The Respondent treated this as gross misconduct following a Peninsula-led investigation, CCTV review and disciplinary and appeal processes. The Tribunal found that the dismissal was unfair, principally on procedural grounds, but did not displace the Respondent's genuine belief in misconduct.

Employment Judge Yardley held that the Respondent unreasonably failed to comply with the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures 2015, and increased the compensatory award by 10% under s.207A TULRCA 1992. The Tribunal also found there was a 50% chance the Claimant would have been fairly dismissed in any event, applying a Polkey reduction to the compensatory award. Reinstatement and re-engagement were considered but found not to be practicable given the loss of trust and confidence and the small size of the Respondent.

The Claimant was awarded a basic award of £1,956.00 (6 x £326) and a compensatory award of £992.75, comprising six weeks' loss of earnings (£1,605), £200 for loss of statutory rights, reduced by 50% for Polkey and uplifted by 10% under the ACAS Code. The total monetary award was £2,948.75, with the Employment Protection (Recoupment of Benefits) Regulations 1996 applying to the prescribed element of £992.75.

Claims and outcomes

2 findings recorded

Claim type	Issue or finding	Outcome	Protected characteristic	Award
Unfair dismissal	Ordinary unfair dismissal under ss.94 and 98 ERA 1996. Tribunal found a 50% chance the Claimant would have been fairly dismissed in any event (Polkey reduction). Compensatory award increased by 10% for the Respondent's unreasonable failure to comply with the ACAS Code under s.207A TULRCA 1992.	Upheld	—	£2,949
Unfair dismissal	Ordinary unfair dismissal under ss.94 and 98 ERA 1996. Tribunal found a 50% chance the Claimant would have been fairly dismissed in any event (Polkey reduction). Compensatory award increased by 10% for the Respondent's unreasonable failure to comply with the ACAS Code under s.207A TULRCA 1992.	Upheld	—	£2,949

Remedy

Monetary award

Total award: £2,949; across all upheld claims
Basic award: £1,956; statutory, unfair dismissal
Compensatory award: £993; compensatory remedy recorded

Legal tests applied

12 references

Official outcome judgment PDF

Gov.uk primary record

The official judgment PDF on gov.uk contains the tribunal's outcome, reasoning, and any remedy details. Where this page does not yet show extracted outcomes for every claim, use the PDF as the authoritative source.

Open official judgment PDF on gov.uk

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