Mr R Saunders v 1 Green Your Space Ltd 2 Chic Flower Design Limited (in liquidation) 3 Green Your Space Group Limited — 2023

The tribunal found that, after Chic Flower Design Limited bought the Seasonal Transformations business in July 2019, Mr Saunders was employed by Chic as manager of Seasonal Transformations rather than as an independent consultant. It accepted that he was paid £6,000 net per month, was entitled to expenses, and that discussions about future bonuses and a possible share of sale proceeds were discussed but not finally agreed. Claims against Green Your Space Ltd and Green Your Space Group Limited were dismissed because the claimant was employed by Chic, not by those companies.

On the dismissal, the tribunal rejected the respondent's asserted reasons of unauthorised leave, poor budget management, and receipt of scrap-metal money into personal accounts. It found there was no set leave procedure, no significant disruption from the December absence, no discussion at the 8 January meeting about unauthorised absence or scrap-metal money, and no basis for treating the budget discussion as criticism of the claimant's abilities. It also found that the claimant had been aware he had received scrap-metal payments, but that this was not discussed at the meeting on 8 January.

The tribunal found that Mr Smith independently decided on 15 January 2020 to end the claimant's employment because he was 'too expensive' and the company no longer wished to employ him. It held that the reasons later set out in the email dated 26 January and sent on 1 February were not the real reasons for dismissal, and that there had been complete disregard of the ACAS Code of Practice: no prior allegations, no investigation, and no appeal. The dismissal was therefore unfair. Separately, the tribunal found a breach of section 1 ERA 1996 for failure to provide written particulars of employment, but the amount of any award and the remedy for the unfair dismissal were to be dealt with at a later remedy hearing.