Miss J Hunter v Essex County Council — 2020

The claimant was dismissed following a wider restructuring of the respondent's organisation and the deletion of her Senior HR Consultant role. The tribunal found that a redundancy situation existed because the requirement for employees carrying out work of that particular kind had ceased or diminished. It also stated that, if that conclusion were wrong, it would have found dismissal for some other substantial reason arising from the reorganisation.

The tribunal found that the respondent's consultation exercise was extensive and that the claimant had attended consultation meetings, received relevant packs, and had individual meetings and support. It rejected the claimant's case that she should have been slotted into or offered the People Consultant or SSCA/People Caseworker roles, finding that there was no job match and that competitive interviews were a fair and reasonable selection method. The tribunal accepted that the delay in the appeal outcome was considerable and regrettable, but found explanations for most or all of it and no effect on the substantive fairness of the appeal.

The tribunal dismissed the discrimination and part-time worker complaints. It found no facts from which it could conclude that the claimant's sex, part-time status, or pregnancy caused or affected the redundancy decision, the interview outcomes, the appeal outcome, or the appeal delay. The protective award complaint was also dismissed because the tribunal was satisfied that there had been consultation with recognised trade unions and with affected staff, and found no merit in the alleged collective consultation failure.