(sitting alone) David McQuade v -20 Solicitor Aspen Solutions Limited — 2018

The claimant, David McQuade, brought a claim that had originally included unlawful deduction from wages and was later amended to add unfair dismissal. At the hearing, the claimant's representative said the unlawful deduction claim had been resolved, and the tribunal proceeded only on unfair dismissal. The respondent conceded that the claimant was unfairly dismissed on 21 March 2017, but argued that he had contributed to his dismissal and that he would have been dismissed in any event, so no compensation should be paid.

The tribunal found that the claimant had used the laptop for personal purposes with the respondent's knowledge, had contributed towards its purchase, and had downloaded information the day before his resignation. It accepted that he expected to work his notice until 17 April 2017 and that the respondent had taken the laptop from him when he resigned. On those facts, the tribunal concluded that the claimant had not behaved in a blameworthy manner and had not contributed to his dismissal.

The tribunal rejected the respondent's Polkey argument. It found that the respondent had never clearly identified what information was alleged to have been copied or deleted, had not given the claimant a proper opportunity to explain, had not convened a disciplinary hearing, and had not carried out a reasonable investigation. The tribunal also rejected any reduction for failure to appeal, holding that it was not unreasonable for the claimant to think an appeal would be futile because the Managing Director had been involved in the dismissal decision.

As to remedy, the tribunal awarded a basic award of £2,395, calculated on five years' service at £479 per year. It found that the claimant's loss for the remaining notice period was £2,848.54 net, but did not award holiday pay for the balance of the notice period because it considered the claimant would likely have taken or been required to take any remaining leave. The tribunal then applied a 20% uplift under section 207A of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 for the respondent's failure to follow the ACAS Code, increasing the compensatory award to £3,418.25 and producing a total award of £5,813.25.