Ms K Pearce v Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust — 2024

This was a remedy judgment following a liability decision sent on 25 July 2023. The tribunal recorded that the claimant had succeeded in her claim for constructive unfair dismissal and in one disability discrimination complaint only, namely a failure to make reasonable adjustments in relation to an informal meeting on 1 October 2020. The claimant did not seek reinstatement or re-engagement.

For unfair dismissal, the tribunal awarded a basic award calculated under the statutory formula and £500 for loss of statutory rights. It did not award further unfair dismissal compensation for continuing loss because it found that the claimant’s financial losses were to be assessed under the discrimination claim, and that the statutory cap would in any event apply to unfair dismissal compensation.

On discrimination remedy, the tribunal found that the claimant had made reasonable efforts to mitigate her loss between leaving the respondent and starting work at Princess Alexandra Hospitals NHS Trust. It accepted, however, that her later decision to leave that employment was an intervening event not attributable to the respondent, and so losses after 29 March 2021 were not recoverable from the respondent. The tribunal awarded loss of earnings to that date, together with pension loss on the simple basis, and made an injury to feelings award at the upper end of the lower Vento band. It found that the failure to make the adjustment on 1 October 2020 added to the claimant’s anxiety and stress and contributed to her decision to resign, although it was not the main or principal factor.