Mr Richard Stevenson v Represented by:15 Mr P Kissen Solicitor Black Wolf Brewery Ltd — 2024

Mr Richard Stevenson was employed by Black Wolf Brewery Ltd from 6 January 2020 as a Warehouse Production Manager. The Tribunal found that he was never provided with written particulars of employment, despite asking for a contract or statement of terms. On 11 May 2023 he was suspended with allegations of misconduct, he denied the allegations at the meeting on 15 May 2023, and on 19 May 2023 he was summarily dismissed. He appealed in writing but received no response and no appeal hearing was arranged.

The Tribunal found Mr Stevenson to be a credible and reliable witness. It held that the dismissal was unfair under sections 94 and 98 ERA 1996 because there was no proper investigation, no disclosure of evidence in advance, no proper disciplinary meeting, no right to accompaniment and no action on appeal, and it said the ACAS Code had been breached in a wholesale manner. It also found that the reason for dismissal was redundancy because the respondent ceased trading at the warehouse and dismissed the other staff. The Tribunal said the summary termination was a breach of contract, but that point did not change the award because the loss flowing from it was already covered by the compensatory award.

On remedy, the Tribunal accepted the basic award of £2,893.50 and then applied a 25% uplift to give £3,616.87. It calculated the compensatory award by comparing the earnings the claimant would have received had the employment continued with his post-dismissal income from benefits, OCS and My Life Bathrooms, resulting in loss of £4,070.56, and added £500 for loss of statutory rights, giving £4,570.56 before uplift and £5,713.20 after uplift. It also awarded £2,780 under section 38 Employment Act 2002 for failure to provide written particulars and £1,334.43 for unpaid holiday pay. The total award was £13,444.50, stated to be net of tax with no deductions due.