Ms M Erbil Mr S Seyhan v Blake – Turner 2 Limited (T/a B – T2 Solicitors) — 2020

The respondent was a solicitors practice operating the Green Lanes office and the Erbiller trading name. Ms Erbil and Mr Seyhan were found to be of Turkish origin. The tribunal found that the Erbiller files and clients were, for regulatory and liability purposes, the respondent's clients, not the claimants' personal clients, and that the dispute over profitability and ownership of the Erbiller business escalated from August 2018.

In April 2019 the respondent discovered client authority forms and cheques, including cheques totalling £14,582.59, and suspended both claimants pending investigation. Ms Erbil was dismissed for conduct on 15 May 2019 after allegations that she had advised clients to transfer work without authority, withheld client monies, misused confidential information and continued to advise transfers while suspended. The tribunal held that the respondent had a genuine belief in gross misconduct and that the dismissal was within the range of reasonable responses, although it said video evidence from the office search had not been put to her.

Mr Seyhan was also dismissed for conduct, but the tribunal held that the investigation was not reasonable because the respondent did not properly test his explanation that he was acting on Ms Erbil's instructions, and the allegation that he had withheld cheques was not established. His unfair dismissal claim succeeded. The tribunal also found that he had not been given a written contract of employment and ordered the respondent to pay 4 weeks' pay under section 38 of the Employment Act 2002, without quantifying the amount in the judgment.

The tribunal found there was a genuine redundancy situation arising from the planned closure of the Green Lanes office, changes in fixed-fee personal injury work, succession planning and the directors' retirement plans. It held that the respondent consulted the claimants and that, had the misconduct dismissals not occurred, both would have been fairly dismissed for redundancy.

The race discrimination and race harassment claims failed. The tribunal held that the email telling Ms Erbil not to accept further Turkish clients, the decision not to invite either claimant to the Christmas meal, the comment referring to Mr Seyhan as a puppy dog, the references to his credibility and family connection, and the differences in the redundancy meeting arrangements were explained by the breakdown in relations, the redundancy process and practical circumstances, not by race. Ms Erbil's unpaid travel allowance claim also failed because she did not prove any claimed entitlement. A remedy hearing for Mr Seyhan's unfair dismissal claim, if required, was listed for 11 March 2021.