Miss L Stock v Joanne White — 2020

The Claimant, Miss L Stock, brought claims for unpaid holiday pay and wrongful dismissal (notice pay). At the start of the merits hearing on 1 December 2020, the tribunal recorded that holiday pay had been paid more than a year after the employment ended, and the Claimant confirmed that those sums satisfied that claim. The holiday pay complaint was therefore dismissed upon withdrawal.

The remaining issue was the Respondent's summary dismissal of the Claimant after she had given 8 weeks' notice by email on 13 April 2019. The tribunal found that the Claimant had worked as a part-time live-out nanny from 23 October 2018 under a contract that provided for 8 weeks' notice, and that the Respondent dismissed her on 15 or 16 April 2019 for alleged gross misconduct. The Respondent relied on a series of concerns, including phone use, handling of the children, meals, cleaning, naps, and an incident captured on CCTV on 8 March 2019.

The tribunal considered each allegation in detail. It found that several matters were not proved or were exaggerated, and that others were at most minor performance or conduct issues. It accepted that the Claimant had lifted one child by one arm on the CCTV incident, but held that this was misconduct, not gross misconduct. It also found that, for matters the Respondent knew about earlier, including the phone charger issue, the crying on the monitor, the cleaning complaints, the meal concerns, and the use of WhatsApp and messages during the day, the Respondent had continued to employ the Claimant and so had waived any breach. It held that the cumulative conduct still did not amount to repudiatory breach of contract.

The tribunal further held that the contractual clause relied on by the Respondent could not displace statutory minimum notice because of ss.86(3) and 203 Employment Rights Act 1996. It also found that the Respondent did not actually believe the matters were serious enough to amount to material breach or gross misconduct at the time, and in any event any such belief would not have been reasonable because the Claimant had not been given a proper chance to respond before dismissal. The wrongful dismissal claim therefore succeeded. The tribunal awarded 8 weeks' pay less pay for 16 April 2019 and less other income of £199.85, producing damages of £2,858.15, and then applied a 20% ACAS uplift of £571.63, making a total award of £3,429.78.