In person For the v GTC Pub Management Ltd — 2022

The tribunal found that the claimant, Mr Thomas Morris, started work for the respondent on 2 September 2020 and was placed on furlough when the pub closed on 22 October 2020. It rejected earlier suggested termination dates on the P45 and in the May 2021 correspondence, and held that the employment ended only when the claimant first learned of dismissal on 14 July 2021, after receiving the respondent's July 2021 letter.

On pay, the tribunal found that the claimant had been underpaid furlough wages and accrued holiday pay. It calculated gross furlough entitlement from 22 October 2020 to 14 July 2021 at £8,496.56, found that £5,364.98 had been received, and awarded the £3,131.58 shortfall. It also found unpaid holiday pay of £769.49 after deducting £641.42 already paid on termination. In each case it added a 10% uplift under section 207A of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 because the respondent unreasonably failed to deal with the claimant's grievance, producing awards of £3,444.73 and £846.43.

The tribunal upheld the whistleblowing dismissal complaint. It found that the claimant made a qualifying and protected disclosure to HMRC on 22 January 2021 about the respondent's furlough administration and underpayment, that the respondent became aware of the complaint, and that the principal reason for the dismissal was the protected disclosure. It awarded £3,420 for loss of earnings to 4 October 2021, applied a 10% uplift, and made the total for that complaint £3,762. It also found wrongful dismissal well founded, but made no separate award to avoid double recovery.

The harassment and direct sexual orientation discrimination complaints failed. The tribunal accepted that the remarks about employing the claimant to matchmake him with another male employee and asking him to dress as a pantomime dame were unwanted and related to sexual orientation, but it held that they did not have the purpose or effect required by section 26 of the Equality Act 2010. It also found the harassment complaint out of time and refused to extend time. On the direct discrimination alternative, it found no comparator evidence and no facts from which it could infer less favourable treatment because of sexual orientation. The total sum due was £8,053.16.