Mr S Jackson Lee and Others v John Lewis plc — 2021

The claimants had transferred from the Co-operative Group to John Lewis Plc under TUPE and were later dismissed by reason of redundancy following the closure of the Wollaton branch. They contended that the Co-op redundancy policy had contractual force and transferred with them, so that the respondent was bound to pay sums under those terms when making them redundant.

The preliminary hearing concerned thirteen claimants whose claims the respondent said should be struck out because they had received redundancy payments equal to or greater than the sums payable under the Co-op redundancy policy. The tribunal noted that there was some dispute about calculations, but it was agreed that none of the thirteen had been paid less under the respondent's policy than they would have received under the Co-op policy.

The tribunal concluded that, even if the claimants were contractually entitled to the Co-op terms, they were not entitled to enhanced redundancy pay in addition to statutory redundancy pay. Because the thirteen claimants had received more than they would have been entitled to under the Co-op scheme, they had suffered no financial loss and there was no breach of contract in respect of those claims. Those claims were struck out as having no reasonable prospect of success, Sam Watson's claim was dismissed on withdrawal, and the remaining claims were left to proceed to a hearing.