Mrs R Garnett v Rothalcourt Ltd and 1 other — 2020

Mrs R Garnett brought claims for direct age discrimination, statutory redundancy payment, unfair dismissal, breach of contract for notice pay, and unlawful deduction from wages against Rothalcourt Ltd and Mr M Daniels. The tribunal held that the claimant had sufficient continuity of service, including continuity involving Northampton Laser Clinic and Rothalcourt Ltd as associated employers, and that redundancy was the principal reason for dismissal on 28 February 2019.

The direct age discrimination claim was not upheld. The tribunal found that the claimant had been dismissed for redundancy in circumstances that made the dismissal procedurally unfair, and it found no basis for a Polkey reduction. It also accepted that the claimant had not acted unreasonably in mitigation: she had applied for receptionist roles, registered with agencies, used job websites, and undertaken IT training, and the respondent had not shown an unreasonable failure to mitigate loss.

On remedy, the tribunal awarded a statutory redundancy payment of £607.50, a compensatory award of £4,459.99 for unfair dismissal, £173 for one further week's notice pay, and £70 for reimbursement of prescription and eye test charges. Within the unfair dismissal award, £4,159.99 was treated as the prescribed element and £300 was awarded for loss of statutory rights. The combined monetary awards total £5,310.49.