Mr C Chadbourne v CFN Packaging Group Limited — 2020

The claimant, Mr C Chadbourne, did not attend the hearing and gave no explanation. The tribunal considered the papers and the evidence from the respondent, CFN Packaging Group Limited, including a final written warning imposed on 26 September 2018 for misconduct and the later incident on 16 November 2018 when the claimant was found asleep on night shift. The respondent gave him the benefit of the doubt at that stage, but the tribunal noted the warning remained live until 25 September 2019.

The tribunal found that on 4 March 2019 the claimant did not attend work and made no contact with his employer. He was dismissed the following day. The respondent accepted that the dismissal was procedurally unfair, and the tribunal treated the March 2019 dismissal as unfair dismissal. It also noted that a later dismissal in July 2019 was not before it because any further unfair dismissal claim would now be out of time.

Applying sections 122 and 123 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the tribunal held that the claimant had wholly contributed to his dismissal. It therefore reduced both the basic award and the compensatory award by 100%, with the result that no compensation was awarded for the unfair dismissal.

Separately, the tribunal accepted the respondent's concession that the claimant should have received two weeks' net wages in lieu of notice. On the figures provided, the weekly net wage was £264.00, and the tribunal ordered payment of £526.00.