SOUKAINA MGADRI v Evans Osemwegie and and 1 other — 2025

Soukaina Mgadri was offered a full-time role by Evago Global Capital Ltd in April 2024 at £80,000 per year, with a start date of 13 May 2024. The tribunal found that an employment relationship existed from that date and that the first respondent, Evans Osemwegie, was not personally liable; he was removed as a party under rule 35(2). The respondents did not attend the final hearing, their late application to postpone was refused, and the tribunal proceeded in their absence under rule 47.

The tribunal found that wages were properly payable from 13 May 2024 to 15 October 2024 and that none were paid. It rejected the respondents' case that the employment ended on 29 July 2024, noting evidence that the claimant remained involved in the business during August 2024. It found that the employment relationship ended only when the claimant's access to the company's IT systems was withdrawn on 15 October 2024. The tribunal also corrected a clerical error from oral reasons and confirmed the correct monthly salary was £6,666.67, producing unpaid wages of £27,282.06.

The complaint of unauthorised deductions from wages under s.13 Employment Rights Act 1996 succeeded. The tribunal accepted the claimant's evidence of consequential loss and awarded £1,590.20 for late rent penalties and £2,828 for interest on loans taken because the salary had not been paid. The total sum payable was £31,700.26 gross, subject to HMRC deductions. The respondents' £15,000 counterclaim for alleged breach of the implied duty to exercise reasonable skill and care was unsupported by evidence and was dismissed.