Miss R Jeffery v Priors Court Foundation — 2024

The claimant, Miss R Jeffery, was originally described in an earlier order as bringing a claim of constructive unfair dismissal only. The reasons record that the agreed list of issues concerned allegations of incidents said to have occurred or been allowed to occur by the respondent, said to amount to a breach of trust and confidence, but that position changed when the respondent sent an email on 28 March 2024 conceding liability for unfair dismissal to bring the proceedings to a close.

The tribunal treated that concession as sufficient to determine the claim under rule 21 of the Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure 2013, on the basis that no part of the unfair dismissal claim was contested in the sense relevant to the rule. The tribunal said it did not need to make findings on the underlying allegations once the fairness of the dismissal was no longer in dispute, and noted that there were no Polkey or contributory fault arguments being run.

The judgment therefore records a finding that the claimant was unfairly dismissed. On remedy, the respondent said the amount sought was £1,419.66 and the claimant did not dispute that sum, although she did not agree with the respondent's attempt to concede liability without accepting the factual allegations said to underpin the dismissal. The tribunal awarded £1,419.66 by way of compensation and stated that the listed final hearing on 20-22 May 2024 would not take place.