Mrs A Mungai v Allied Vehicles Limited — 2021

Mrs A Mungai worked for Allied Vehicles Ltd from 1995 and moved to part-time hours in 2006 after maternity leave. In the 2020 redundancy exercise she was in a pool of 12 sales administration staff and was the only part-time worker. The tribunal heard evidence about the scoring matrix, the consultation meetings, and the appeal conducted by Conal Furie. It also dealt with a preliminary disclosure issue about text messages said to relate to the redundancy process, but later gave that document no weight because it was untested and the claimant's name did not appear in the list of people referred to.

The tribunal found that the dismissal was unfair under section 98 ERA 1996. It preferred the claimant's evidence that she was assessed against functions she could not be scored on because she was not permitted to process vehicle orders due to working part-time. It found the consultation minutes were not an accurate record of the discussion, that Ms Keirnan's evidence was unreliable on material points, and that the appeal decision was made on incomplete information. Applying the redundancy authorities it cited, the tribunal held that the dismissal was unfair on procedural and substantive grounds and fell outside the range of reasonable responses.

The tribunal also upheld the claim under the Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000. It held that the full-time members of the selection pool were proper comparators, that the claimant was treated less favourably on the sole ground that she was part-time, and that the respondent had not shown objective justification. Although the respondent said the scoring applied equally to everyone, the tribunal found the evidence did not bear that out and inferred that part-time status was the reason for the treatment complained of.

On remedy, the tribunal held that no basic award was payable because the respondent had already paid the statutory redundancy payment. It awarded a compensatory award of £12,792.11, made up of past loss to the date of judgment, six months' future loss, pension loss and £400 for loss of statutory rights, before a 10% Polkey reduction. The judgment records a total pre-deduction figure of £14,213.45 and a deduction of £1,421.34. The recoupment regulations applied, with a prescribed element of £8,534.81 and an excess of £4,257.30. Separately, the respondent accepted the loyalty service award and the tribunal found the additional holiday entitlement element should be 3 days pro rata because the claimant worked part-time.