Scott Neto v Key People Limited and 1 other — 2021

Mrs Whitbourn, Jason Atherton and Scott Neto all brought unfair dismissal claims against Key People Limited and Just Recruit Group Limited. The tribunal found none of them had been dismissed for a potentially fair reason. It held that Mrs Whitbourn was dismissed because she was associated with Mr Atherton and treated as collateral damage, while Mr Atherton and Mr Neto were dismissed because the directors did not like their stance on the sale or purchase of Just Recruit and the relationship between the parties had broken down.

On Mrs Whitbourn's sex discrimination claim, the tribunal rejected the allegation that her dismissal itself was direct sex discrimination, but upheld the complaint about the verbal warning on 13 September 2018. It found the respondent had produced no evidence about the treatment or targets of comparators, no evidence of diversity training, and no adequate explanation for warning her while others were not warned. The tribunal awarded 5,500 for injury to feelings and added the stated uplift and interest, making the discrimination compensation 7,227.

For unfair dismissal, Mrs Whitbourn was awarded a basic award of 11,430 and a compensatory award capped at 40,000. The tribunal accepted that she had mitigated her loss reasonably by seeking alternative employment and found that her formation of Specialist Sourcing Group Limited was not a contractual breach or misconduct justifying dismissal. It held she was entitled to notice pay, although no separate contractual sum was isolated in the final award table.

Mr Atherton's unfair dismissal claim succeeded, but his wrongful dismissal claim failed. The tribunal rejected redundancy as the true reason for dismissal, found he had not been dismissed because the Sales Director role was no longer needed, and reduced his unfair dismissal compensation by 25% because after-dismissal-discovered conduct in listening into recorded telephone conversations would have justified summary dismissal if known. It also awarded him one day's holiday pay of 462.

Mr Neto's unfair dismissal claim and his breach of contract notice-pay claim both succeeded, together with one day's holiday pay. The tribunal found poor performance was not the real reason for dismissal, accepted that he had not failed to mitigate by setting up a similar business, and awarded damages for the shortfall in bonus, commission and pension during the notice period. His total award was 100,442, made up of 92,580 for unfair dismissal, 7,536 for breach of contract and 326 for holiday pay.