Ms Anita Briggs v , Solicitor The Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland — 2025

Ms Anita Briggs was dismissed on 13 February 2024 after a lengthy capability process concerning her work as Digital Media Content Producer. The tribunal accepted the respondent's evidence that there were genuine performance concerns over a sustained period, particularly in relation to attention to detail, following through on actions, and following established processes. It rejected the claimant's case that there had been an orchestrated campaign to end her employment, and found that the reason for dismissal was capability within s.98(2) ERA 1996.

On fairness under s.98(4) ERA 1996, the tribunal found that the respondent had a genuine belief, on reasonable grounds, that the claimant was not meeting the required standard. It accepted that the claimant had been given support through the PIP process, including regular one-to-one meetings, peer review, a creative writing course, task lists and trackers, and the removal of historic workload. It also found that the respondent had taken account of the claimant's personal stress in 2022 through stress risk assessments, and that additional resource had been brought into the team when needed.

The tribunal's main criticism was that the respondent did not follow its own Performance Policy when the second informal PIP ended. The policy said that if expected standards were not reached, the manager should move to the formal procedure, but instead the respondent ran a further process it described as a 'formal PIP' before the February 2024 formal hearing. The tribunal held that the claimant was entitled to expect at least one formal warning under the policy before dismissal, and that dismissal without that warning fell outside the band of reasonable responses. It also accepted that redeployment was considered at appeal stage, and that there was no material procedural unfairness in Dr Breward speaking separately with Ms Ireland after the appeal to clarify redeployment.

For remedy, the tribunal applied Polkey and held that there was a 100% chance the claimant would have been dismissed in any event by 31 May 2024 if the policy had been followed. The basic award of £13,503 was agreed. The compensatory award was £8,707.75, comprising £500 for loss of statutory rights and net loss calculated by reference to pay and pension contributions from 13 February to 31 May 2024, less earnings from the claimant's later role at Edinburgh University. The tribunal did not include the payment in lieu of notice in the compensation calculation because it would have been paid by 31 May 2024 in any event.