Mr C Benson and others v Carillion Services Ltd (in compulsory liquidation) and others: 2404292/2018 and others
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 16 December 2022 |
| Date | 16 December 2022 |
| Published date | 15 January 2021 |
| Court | Employment Tribunal |
| Citation | 2404292/2018 and others |
| Subject Matter | Protective Award |
RESERVED JUDGMENT
Case Nos: 2404292/2018 and others
(see attached schedule)
Code V
1
EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS
Claimants:
Mr C Benson and others (see attached schedule)
Respondents:
Carillion Services Limited (in compulsory liquidation) and others
(see attached schedule)
HELD AT:
Manchester
ON:
13 and 15 November 2020
(Tribunal reading days in
chambers),
17 and 19 November 2020
(evidence),
23 November 2020 (Tribunal
reading written submissions
in chambers),
24 November 2020 (oral
submissions),
25-27 November and 7
December 2020 (Tribunal
deliberations in chambers)
BEFORE:
Employment Judge Slater
Ms A Jackson
Ms B Hillon
REPRESENTATION:
Unite, individual
claimants supported
by Unite
(represented by
Thompsons and OH
Parsons) and
individual claimants
represented by
Weightmans:
Individual claimants
represented by JFH
Law:
Respondents:
Ms M Tether, counsel, and Ms R Snocken, counsel
Mr K Zaman, counsel
Mr D Reade, QC, and Mr D Northall, counsel
RESERVED JUDGMENT
Case Nos: 2404292/2018 and others
(see attached schedule)
Code V
2
JUDGMENT
The unanimous judgment of the Tribunal is that:
1. The duty to consult under section 188 Trade Union and Labour Relations
(Consolidation) Act 1992 arose on 14 January 2018.
2. The respondent has failed to establish that there were special circumstances
making it not reasonably practicable to comply with a relevant requirement of
s.188 (“the primary special circumstances defence”) as at 14 January 2018.
REASONS
The Hearing
1. This has been a remote hearing which has been consented to by the parties. The
form of remote hearing was code V, meaning it was wholly or partly conducted by
video conference (Cloud Video Platform). A face to face hearing was not held
because the parties requested to attend remotely and all issues could be determined
in a remote hearing. The parties attended remotely at all times. The Tribunal
members attended at the Tribunal office for part of the hearing and remotely for the
remainder of the hearing.
Page references
2. Page references in these reasons are to pages in the agreed hearing bundle of
documents.
3. Paragraph references, unless otherwise stated, are cross references to
paragraphs in these reasons.
Cast List
4. The following people and organisations are the principal people, groups and
organisations referred to in these reasons:
Boris Adlam Crown Representative, Cabinet Office
Mr Burlison Adviser from Lazards
Keith Cochrane Interim Group Chief Executive (from July 2017)
Janet Dawson Group HR Director
Philip Green Chairman
Anthony Hannon Official Receiver
RESERVED JUDGMENT
Case Nos: 2404292/2018 and others
(see attached schedule)
Code V
3
Richard Howson Group Chief Executive (until July 2017)
Mr Johnson Solicitor, Slaughter and May
Zafar Khan Group Finance Director (until Sept 2017)
Alan Lovell Non-executive director (from November 2017)
John Manzoni Chief Executive of the Civil Service and Cabinet
Office Permanent Secretary.
Emma Mercer Chief Financial Officer (from Sept 2017)
Donald Muir Head of the Transformation Programme
Management Office (from November 2017)
Mr Underhill Solicitor, Slaughter and May
Lee Watson Chief Transformation Officer (from Sept 2017)
(on secondment from Ernst and Young LLP)
Mr Watson Solicitor, Slaughter and May
Gareth Rhys Williams Government Chief Commercial Officer
CoCom The co-ordinating committee of the lenders,
Natwest, HSBC, Barclays, Santander and Lloyds.
EY Ernst and Young LLP, advisers to the Company;
responsible for the Project Ray programme on
cost reduction and transformation.
FTI Financial advisers to the CoCom
KPMG Auditors to the Group
Lazards Financial advisers to the Company
PwC PriceWaterhouse Coopers LLP, appointed to
advise Government and then provide Special
Managers to assist the Official Receiver as
Liquidator
Slaughter and May Solicitors, advisers to the Company
THM A boutique restructuring practice appointed by the
Company to provide additional support and
resource focused on cash/liquidity management.
Claims and Issues
5. The Claimants bring claims for protective awards under section 189 Trade Union
and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULRCA) in respect of failures to
comply with the requirements of section 188 TULRCA to consult with representatives
about proposals to dismiss as redundant 20 or more employees at an establishment
within a period of 90 days or less.
6. This was a preliminary hearing to decide the issue set out at paragraph 2 of the
Tribunal’s order following the third preliminary hearing (p.154) in the following terms:
“Did the circumstances giving rise to, and the order for, the compulsory
liquidation of the Carillion group of companies on 15 January 2018 constitute
special circumstances within the meaning of s.188(7) Trade Union and Labour
Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 rendering it not reasonably practicable for
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