Mr M Pendino v BDS Audio Visual Limited — 2021

The tribunal found that the claimant did not resign on 28 March 2019. It held that his words that day were an enquiry about whether the respondent wanted him to resign, not a clear and unambiguous resignation, and that the respondent's later request for written confirmation and invitation to a meeting were inconsistent with its case that he had already resigned. The tribunal therefore found that he was dismissed effective from 28 March 2019.

On unfair dismissal, the tribunal accepted that the respondent had a potentially fair reason for dismissal under section 98(1)(b) Employment Rights Act 1996, namely some other substantial reason based on an irretrievable loss of trust and confidence arising from the claimant's admitted dishonesty about the 2017 road traffic accident and its insurance consequences. It also noted that a disciplinary process compliant with the ACAS Code was not followed, so the dismissal was unfair under section 98(4) Employment Rights Act 1996.

For remedy, the tribunal said that if a fair procedure had been used the claimant would likely have been dismissed about two weeks later, with 12 weeks' statutory notice. It awarded a wrongful dismissal sum of £3,402.60, a basic award of £4,631.25 after a 50% reduction, and a compensatory award of £613.58 after applying a 15% uplift for the ACAS breach and then a 50% reduction for the claimant's conduct. It also awarded £1,300 for failure to provide a written statement of terms and conditions of employment, bringing the total award to £9,947.43.