Case 4111395/2021 · Employment Tribunal
Ms. Catriona Pattullo v Mr. Malloy (partner) A&R Robertson & Black st and 1 other — 2022
- Case reference
- 4111395/2021
- Decision date
- 23 March 2022
- Jurisdiction
- Scotland
- Judge
- Employment Judge Tinnion
- Venue
- Dundee
Parties
3 namedClaimant
Ms. Catriona Pattullo
Key findings
Tribunal's reasoningMs Pattullo had worked for A&R Robertson & Black since February 2006 as a qualified conveyancer. She went on adoption leave on 17 June 2020, and her adopted daughter was placed with her on 19 June 2020. The tribunal found that from 1 April 2021 there was a genuine redundancy situation because Mr Gray's practising certificate had been removed and the legal practice no longer required legal staff. When the claimant was told by email on 19 April 2021 that Robertson & Black had ceased to exist as of 1 April 2021, the tribunal held that email amounted to a dismissal without notice, and that the dismissal was wholly attributable to redundancy.
The redundancy payment claim succeeded. The tribunal applied s.163 and s.139 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and held that the claim was in time after ACAS early conciliation was taken into account under s.207B. On the facts found, the claimant was 46 years old, had 15 years' continuous service, and had weekly gross pay of £374. That produced a statutory redundancy payment of 17.5 weeks' pay, amounting to £6,545.
The holiday pay claim also succeeded against Mr Gray. The tribunal was not satisfied that the claimant had established a contractual entitlement to be paid accrued untaken annual leave on termination, because no contract or written statement of terms was produced and no implied term was proved. It nevertheless held that, under reg 14(2) of the Working Time Regulations 1998 and s.13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, she accrued statutory annual leave during adoption leave and that that leave did not lapse because the employer had not shown it gave her the opportunity to take leave, encouraged her to do so, or warned her that the right would be lost. Applying Smith v Pimlico Plumbers, the tribunal found she was entitled to payment for 103.7 hours of accrued leave at £14.54 per hour, totalling £1,507.80.
The total award was £8,052.80. The claim against A&R Robertson & Black was dismissed because the tribunal held that name was only Mr Gray's trading name and had no separate legal personality.
Claims and outcomes
2 findings recorded| Claim type | Issue or finding | Outcome | Protected characteristic | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holiday pay | The tribunal rejected a contractual breach basis but upheld the statutory holiday pay claim under reg 14(2) of the Working Time Regulations 1998 and s.13 ERA 1996 for accrued untaken leave during adoption leave. | Upheld | — | £1,508 |
| Redundancy | The tribunal found the dismissal was wholly attributable to a genuine redundancy situation from 1 April 2021 and awarded a statutory redundancy payment. It also held A&R Robertson & Black was only Mr Gray's trading name and had no separate legal personality. | Upheld | — | £6,545 |
Remedy
Monetary award- Total award
- £8,053
- across all upheld claims
Legal tests applied
6 references- s.163 ERA 1996
- s.139 ERA 1996
- s.207B ERA 1996
- reg 14(2) Working Time Regulations 1998
- s.13 ERA 1996
- Smith v Pimlico Plumbers [2022] EWCA Civ 70
Official outcome judgment PDF
Gov.uk primary recordThe official judgment PDF on gov.uk contains the tribunal's outcome, reasoning, and any remedy details. Where this page does not yet show extracted outcomes for every claim, use the PDF as the authoritative source.
Published on gov.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
How we got this data
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