Ms G D’Adamo v Angel of Corbridge Ltd t/a The Angel Inn — 2022

This was a reserved liability judgment following a three-day hearing before Employment Judge Newburn sitting alone. The Claimant had been employed at the Respondent's hotel and hospitality business since July 2003, most recently as Operations/Revenue Manager, and was made redundant in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. The Respondent conceded that additional sums were due for redundancy pay (£264.42) and holiday pay (£456.62), and the Tribunal ordered payment of those amounts.

The Tribunal dismissed the Claimant's claim of automatic unfair dismissal under section 100 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. However, her claim of ordinary unfair dismissal under section 98 succeeded. The Tribunal found that the redundancy process fell outside the band of reasonable responses, in particular because the Respondent failed adequately to consult on its assessment of how the Claimant's tasks would be absorbed and did not respond to the Claimant's request for the job specification for an available supervisor role, having simply assumed she would not accept it.

Applying Polkey, the Judge found that further consultation about the accountability matrix would not have changed the outcome, but that there was a 70% chance the Claimant would have accepted the supervisor role had it been offered and would have remained employed. The Tribunal also found that the Claimant had not been provided with a written statement of employment particulars and so was entitled to an award under section 38 of the Employment Act 2002. Remedy for the unfair dismissal and section 38 claims was reserved to a further hearing.