Claimant v McGill Facilities Management Limited (In Administration) — 2023

The case was decided on the papers under Rule 21 after the respondent's defence had effectively been withdrawn by the administrators, who consented to an award being made. Mrs Mandy Fleming had been employed by McGill Facilities Management Ltd from 5 February 1996 as a Client Operations Manager in Grangemouth. Her pay was £34,200 gross per year plus twice-yearly bonuses of £750, and she was 49 at termination.

The tribunal proceeded on documents only. It found that on 2 December 2021 a colleague, Robert McFarlane, said words to the effect "you dykes sit at the top" after a discussion about seating arrangements, and that he had made similar comments previously. The claimant was upset and embarrassed, raised a grievance, was told on 24 February 2022 that many people knew of the matter, and resigned on 25 February 2022. She obtained new employment on 1 March 2022 at lower remuneration.

On that material, the tribunal held that the remark and the respondent's handling of it amounted to harassment under section 26 of the Equality Act 2010 and that the claimant had been unlawfully dismissed under section 39. It also found that she had been dismissed for the purposes of section 95(1)(c) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and that the dismissal was unfair under section 98. The reasons refer to the Western Excavating constructive dismissal authorities, the implied term of trust and confidence in Malik, and the section 98(4) fairness test.

Remedy was split between the discrimination findings and unfair dismissal. The tribunal awarded £2,000 for injury to feelings, which it described as a moderate sum and noted was not separately interest-bearing. For unfair dismissal it awarded a basic award of £13,056 and a compensatory award of £350 for loss of statutory rights, leading to a total award of £15,406. The headnote line records the compensatory award as £350.35, but the reasons and total read £350 and £15,406.