EAT Practice and Procedure : Costs
The Appellant brought claims in the Employment Tribunal for constructive unfair dismissal, racial discrimination and victimisation. The Employment Tribunal dismissed all the claims. The Respondent applied for its costs. The Employment Tribunal found that the unfair dismissal claim had not been one that had no reasonable prospect of success. However, it found that the other claims had had no reasonable prospect of success from the start. It proceeded to award the Respondent costs in the sum of 5,000 pounds.
Held, allowing the appeal:
(1) The Employment Tribunal erred in principle because it did not consider whether it should exercise a discretion to award costs at all under Rule 76(1) of the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2013. Rather it had gone simply from finding that the claims had in part had no reasonable prospect of success to the conclusion that costs should be awarded and then proceeded to assess the quantum of those costs.
(2) The Employment Tribunal further erred in failing to give adequate reasons to explain how it had arrived at the figure of 5,000 pounds.
(3) It had also erred in taking into account the means of the Appellant’s wife without asking what, if any, impact those means had on the Appellant’s own ability to pay, which is what it had decided to take into account under Rule 84 of the ET Rules.
Judges:
Singh J
Citations:
[2017] UKEAT 0258 – 16 – 0103
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Employment
Updated: 24 March 2022; Ref: scu.582054
