Mrs. Kokib Lodhi v Monas Beauty Lounge — 2023

Mrs Kokib Lodhi worked as a beauty therapist for Monas Beauty Lounge from 2 September 2019. On 12 August 2022 she asked for Saturday 13 August as holiday after a death in the family. After a text exchange that evening, Mrs Dhingra told her not to come to work on Monday and then confirmed dismissal when Mrs Lodhi asked whether she was being dismissed. The tribunal found that exchange was an unambiguous dismissal within s.95(1)(a) ERA 1996.

On fairness, the tribunal accepted that the respondent held a genuine belief that the claimant's travel to Bradford amounted to misconduct, but held that no reasonable investigation had been carried out and the procedure was unfair. The claimant was not asked whether she would attend work on 13 August, whether she could return to Nottingham, or to explain her position, and she was given no meaningful disciplinary process or appeal. Applying the Burchell principles, Post Office v Foley and the band of reasonable responses under s.98 ERA 1996, the dismissal was unfair.

The tribunal rejected contributory fault and made no Polkey reduction. It awarded a basic award of £912, a compensatory award of £17,176, a 20% ACAS uplift of £3,435.20 and £500 for loss of statutory rights, and the total sum payable was £22,073.20. It found that the claimant had reasonably mitigated her loss and awarded past and future loss of earnings on that basis. It also upheld the £50 deduction from the final payslip as an unauthorised deduction from wages. The arrears-of-pay element was dismissed after a later net payment of £1,543.03, the holiday pay/furlough holiday pay claim was dismissed, and the separate pension-contribution claim was rejected because the tribunal found the arrears had been addressed and the contributions were due to NEST rather than to the claimant.