Mr Beresford Walker v Wincanton Group Limited — 2025

The tribunal, sitting before Employment Judge Lumby with Dr S Chacko and Mr R Singh, found that Mr Beresford Walker’s ordinary unfair dismissal complaint against Wincanton Group Limited was well founded and that he had been unfairly dismissed. It also found the wrongful dismissal complaint well founded and held that he was entitled to a payment in respect of notice. The separate complaint of automatic unfair dismissal, described in the written judgment as being for making a protected disclosure or because of race, was dismissed, as were the direct race discrimination, race-related harassment and victimisation complaints.

On remedy, the tribunal did not fix a monetary award in this judgment. It found that there was a 50% chance the claimant would have been fairly dismissed in any event. It also found that the respondent had unreasonably failed to comply with the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures 2015, so that any compensatory award should be increased by 10% under section 207A of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. The tribunal further found that the claimant caused or contributed to the dismissal by blameworthy conduct, so any compensatory award should be reduced by 10%.

A separate hearing was to be arranged to determine remedy for the unfair and wrongful dismissal claims if the parties did not reach agreement first. No monetary figure was recorded in the published judgment.