Employment Tribunal Compensation

[purple mk2]

Was given lots of really good advice, by caggers, when my Father-in-Law was made redundant without notice, redundancy pay,or cash-in-lieu of notice. He'd been with the firm for almost 38 years. Just had case management discussion, which (I think ) went really well, but the Judge has requested to know what we want (I say "we" 'cos he's asked me to represent him) in terms of compensation. The judge mentioned " Vento" which seems to be just about age discrimination, but, although when asked, his employer gave his reason for dismissing him as "you were the one nearest to retirement", there was much more than that. He was victimized for refusing to lie for his boss at an Employment Tribunal, against a former employee, a case which his boss lost and, when his working week was cut because of lack of work, from 5 to 4 days, no-one else was involved. Similarly, when he was made redundant, there was no "pool" of selection, only him! Can I use the "Vento" calculation, but add other items to compensate for victimization etc? He's now just turned 65, so the compensation, I would imagine, would be less than it could have been, but he, and his Wife have been to Hell and back since last September and were talking of selling their home of over 40 years. Any help wouid be appreciated.

[lbruk]

yes, also include loss of pension, harassment, injury to feelings, there are a few more that are not springing to mind at the moment!

[becky2585]

You really need to ensure that you get to grips with the basics of discrimination law if you're going to represent your father, the Vento guidelines being one of the points you need to know about. The relevant case is Vento v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police (No 2) [2002] EWCA Civ 1871 , which gives the guidelines for compensation in discrimination claims. You also need to look at Da'Bell v National Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children UKEAT/0227/09, which was authority for increasing the compensation limits in line with inflation.

 

Injury to feelings compensation covers both discrimination and victimisation (which in law is a form of discrimination). The good news is that it appears that the Respondent has admitted to age discriminatory behaviour.

Your father's age also doesn't matter, and in fact could work in his favour. He needs to show that he is searching for alternative employment, but if he keeps a record and he can show the Tribunal he was planning on continuing to work (the default retirement age of 65 has now been abolished) then he could readily claim around a year's compensation because it's clearly much harder for an older employee to obtain alternative work.

 

In terms of compensation, he should be claiming his basic award (which is the equivalent of a redundancy payment), his pay in lieu of notice, which is 12 weeks statutory minimum given his length of service, his accrued but untaken holiday pay, any loss of contractual benefits, for example company car, health insurance or pension loss. He should then add on injury to feelings (check the brackets under the cases I outlined above, but probably £15,000 wouldn't be unrealistic) and add on a year's lost earnings (providing he is searching for alternative employment, or the Tribunal won't be minded to award this).

 

In terms of the unfair redundancy, there has to be a reduced need for employees to do work of a particular kind under statutory law, and at common law level you'd be best referring to the case of Williams v Compair Maxam Ltd [1982] ICR 156 as this is the leading common law authority.

 

Hope this helps.

[purple mk2]

Dear Friends,

Firstly, my sincere apologies for being late in thanking you for your replies, it was very remiss and rude of me. However, in my defence, I am, at the same time, attempting to overturn my Father-in-Law's previous employer's CVA, as I believe a fraud has taken place. However, that's for another day! The "Vento" bands are a little beyond my comprehension though. The lower band seems to be for cases where a single instance of discrimination has taken place. However, he was made redundant, with no notice,no consultation,no redundancy pay (although he's just received this from the R.P.O.) even being offered a lift home in his own company car! The only thing they didn't do is sack him for being disabled and he's only got one arm! They told him, point blank, that he was being made redundant, as he was the closest to retirement age. All of this adds up to automatic unfair dismissal in anyone's book. However, the ageism is, it would seem, an isolated incident, but there were other things. He refused to lie at another employee's E.T., which his then employer was forced to settle out of Court. From then on he was victimized. He was forced to accept reduced working hours when no-one else was, he was threatened with the loss of his company car, which he relied on massively, being disabled. The employer said that he only used it for business purposes 2 or 3 times in the last few months, so it needed to be sold, but the CVA Court Report shows the car as still in their possession, but is excluded from the CVA inventory, because it's used for work on a daily basis! This seems proof of an ongoing campaign of harrassment and discrimination, so could I ask for a "Vento,"but in a higher category, even the highest category? His unpaid notice amounts to around £9,000, but the Judge has indicated that this item will come under the protection of the CVA, so he'll get 30% over 5 years. However, I am building a case against both the company, and it's Directors, for offences under the Insolvency Act and the Insolvency Practitioner for,well, as many offences as you could shake a stick at! I'm fairly confident the CVA can be over-turned, as the Serious Fraud Squad are now involved, but I'm not at all confident of giving an actual figure to the Tribunal, in case it makes us look either too soft, or too greedy. I can't imagine though an "Injury To Feelings" case worse than giving almost all your working life to one company and, with just months to go and your retirement all mapped out carefully beforehand, being cast aside, without warning and without hesitation. This was summary dismissal in all but name, but I need figures to put on it, or at least how to calculate it.

Sorry for the rant, but my in-Laws mean the world to me and they deserve so much better. Thanks for any assistance.

 

Best Wishes,

Stephen Bates

[Hacked_Off]

Take your full name off posts!!!!!

[purple mk2]

Take your full name off posts!!!!!

Helpful, thanks.