Mrs L Paisley v Blue Tiger Coffee Ltd — 2025

The claimant, employed by Blue Tiger Coffee Ltd from 1 May 2018 in a series of roles and from approximately February 2023 as catering manager, brought a complaint of unfair dismissal. The tribunal had to determine the effective date of termination, whether the claimant was dismissed or the contract was ended by mutual agreement, the reason for dismissal (the respondent relying on a substantial reason capable of justifying dismissal, namely a business restructure, the claimant contending redundancy), and whether the respondent acted reasonably under s.98(4) ERA 1996.

Employment Judge Macey held that the claimant's complaint of unfair dismissal was well-founded and that the respondent unfairly dismissed the claimant. The tribunal also granted both parties' applications to amend their pleadings to incorporate further factual allegations from their witness statements.

On the question of what would have happened had a fair procedure been followed, the tribunal considered the respondent's allegations against the claimant, accepting that the claimant had breached confidentiality by forwarding her 10 September 2024 email and discussing the offer of the part-time accounts role, while finding other allegations (bad-mouthing, attitude, food safety paperwork) speculative or unsupported. The tribunal concluded there was a 60% chance the claimant would still have been dismissed had a fair process been followed, and accordingly directed a 60% reduction in the compensatory award under Polkey v A E Dayton Services Ltd. Remedy will be determined at a further hearing.