Case 3308235/2023 · Employment Tribunal
Ms Regina Rafalska v Buon Appetito Reading Ltd — 2024
- Case reference
- 3308235/2023
- Decision date
- 20 August 2024
- Jurisdiction
- England & Wales
- Judge
- Employment Judge Professor
Parties
2 namedClaimant
Ms Regina Rafalska
Respondent
Key findings
Tribunal's reasoningThe Claimant brought multiple claims against Buon Appetito Reading Ltd, which did not appear and was not represented at the CVP hearing before Employment Judge Professor A C Neal on 26 June 2024. The Tribunal dismissed the unfair dismissal claim and the claim for a redundancy payment. It also dismissed a sub-element of the unlawful deductions claim relating to tips.
The Tribunal found in the Claimant's favour on her claim of direct discrimination by reference to the protected characteristic of pregnancy and maternity, awarding £5,000 for injury to feelings within the mid-Lower Vento band together with £511.78 interest (467 days at 8%); economic loss was recorded as zero. The breach of contract claim succeeded with one week's statutory minimum notice pay at £440. Holiday pay was awarded for 3.4 days accrued entitlement (6-30 April 2023) at £88 per day, totalling £299.20.
The unlawful deductions from wages claim succeeded in respect of 23 days of unpaid wages at £88 per day (£2,024) and in respect of sums deducted as 'pension contributions' (NEST) for July to October 2023 (£223.14). All weekly and daily rates were derived from contractual documents and the Claimant's evidence on the basis of a 40-hour week at £11 per hour.
Claims and outcomes
8 findings recordedThis case has mixed outcomes under at least one legal claim type. A tribunal can uphold some allegations and dismiss others under the same legal head, so rows below may represent separate issues or allegation groups from the judgment.
| Claim type | Issue or finding | Outcome | Protected characteristic | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unfair dismissal | Recorded from the judgment. | Dismissed | — | — |
| Pregnancy and maternity discrimination | Direct discrimination well-founded; award comprises £5,000 injury to feelings (mid-Lower Vento band) plus £511.78 interest (467 days at 8%); economic loss recorded as zero. | Upheld | Pregnancy and maternity | £5,512 |
| Redundancy | Recorded from the judgment. | Dismissed | — | — |
| Breach of contract | Statutory minimum notice money due (1 week at £440). | Upheld | — | £440 |
| Holiday pay | 3.4 days accrued holiday entitlement (6-30 April 2023) at £88/day = £299.20. | Upheld | — | £299 |
| Unlawful deduction from wages | Unpaid wages earned: 23 days at £88/day = £2,024. | Upheld | — | £2,024 |
| Unlawful deduction from wages |
Remedy
Monetary award- Total award
- £8,498
- across all upheld claims
Legal tests applied
1 reference- Vento bands
Official outcome judgment PDF
Gov.uk primary recordThe official judgment PDF on gov.uk contains the tribunal's outcome, reasoning, and any remedy details. Where this page does not yet show extracted outcomes for every claim, use the PDF as the authoritative source.
Published on gov.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
How we got this data
Case essentials (reference, date, judge, venue, country, claim categories) are extracted from the structured metadata gov.uk publishes alongside each decision. Parties and monetary figures are extracted from the judgment PDF text. Key findings and per-claim outcomes require a second extraction pass that is not yet complete for this case — until then, the primary source linked above is the authoritative record. See full methodology.
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