Claimant v Vascutek Limited (t/a Terumo Aortic) — 2021

At a conference call on 28 June 2021, the claimant, Ms L O’ Donnell, withdrew her complaints of discrimination on the grounds of age and disability. The tribunal recorded that those complaints were dismissed under rule 52 of the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2013.

The remaining unfair dismissal claim was not decided at this hearing and was listed for a three-day final hearing. The claimant did not dispute that there was a redundancy situation, but said the redundancy process was unfair and that she should not have been isolated into a pool of one; she continued to seek reinstatement. The respondent said the dismissal was for redundancy and that, having regard to its size and administrative resources, it acted reasonably in treating redundancy as a sufficient reason for dismissal.

The tribunal identified the issues for the final hearing under section 98(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, including whether dismissal was fair in the circumstances, whether reinstatement or re-engagement would be appropriate if the claim succeeded, and whether any compensation should be reduced on a Polkey basis if there was a procedural flaw but dismissal would have occurred in any event. The order also directed preparation and exchange of a single chronological bundle and noted proposed hearing dates of 13, 14 and 15 September 2021.