EAT Practice and Procedure: Costs – UNFAIR DISMISSAL – Compensation
The Employment Tribunal found that the Claimant had been unfairly constructively dismissed by his employer. In the course of the Remedies Hearings: (i) the Employment Tribunal assessed the Claimant’s loss of income for the period after his dismissal; (ii) the Employment Tribunal stated that the Claimant would not have left his employment before he was 60, following which the parties agreed a figure for pension loss of andpound;429,000 odd; (iii) the Employment Tribunal dismissed the Claimant’s application for costs.
On appeal and cross-appeal, the Employment Appeal Tribunal:
(i) Allowed the Claimant’s appeal on the assessment of his loss of income: the Employment Tribunal’s figures were arbitrary and had no clear rationale;
(ii) Dismissed the employer’s cross-appeal against the pension loss: although the Employment Tribunal’s conclusion about the Claimant leaving employment may have been perverse, the parties had subsequently agreed the figure for pension loss without seeking to challenge the conclusion in any way;
(iii) Dismissed the Claimant’s appeal against the refusal to award him costs: however egregious an employer’s conduct in relation to an unfair dismissal, costs can only be awarded against them if they have acted unreasonably in their conduct of the proceedings.
Shanks HHJ
[2015] UKEAT 0354 – 14 – 2502
Bailii
England and Wales
Employment, Costs
Updated: 29 December 2021; Ref: scu.545902