Mr A Mavin v The Hain Daniels Group Ltd and others: 3314504/2019
| Judgment Date | 12 January 2021 |
| Citation | 3314504/2019 |
| Published date | 28 January 2021 |
| Court | Employment Tribunal |
| Subject Matter | Redundancy |
Case Number: 3314504/2019 (V)
1
MK
EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS
BETWEEN
Claimant Respondents
Mr A Mavin
and
(1) The Hain Daniels
Group Limited
(2) Mr M Lilley
(3) Mr A Faulkner
(4) Mr G White
(5) Mr P Gledhill
Held by CVP on 26 to 30 October and, in Chambers, 9 November 2020
Representation Claimant: In Person
Respondents:
Mr D Flood, Counsel
Members Ms A Carvell
Ms H Gunnell
Employment Judge Kurrein
JUDGMENT
1 The First Respondent has unfairly and wrongfully dismissed the Claimant.
2 The First Respondent is ordered to pay the Claimant:-
2.1 A basic award in the sum of £3,150.00
2.2 A compensatory award in the sum of £300.00
2.3 Damages for breach of contract in the sum of £9,509.54.
3 The Claimant’s claims alleging disability discrimination against all Respondents, and
entitlement to a redundancy payment, failure to pay holiday pay and unauthorised
deductions against the First Respondent, are not well founded and are dismissed.
Case Number: 3314504/2019 (V)
2
REASONS
1 On 5 May 2019 the Claimant, having completed early conciliation, presented claims
alleging unfair dismissal, disability discrimination, entitlement to a redundancy
payment, breach of contract and a failure to make payment in respect of holiday pay.
On 6 August 2019 the Respondents presented responses in which they denied those
claims.
2 On 2 December 2019 a preliminary hearing took place before EJ Ord, who gave
directions for the further conduct of the matter.
The Evidence
3 We heard the evidence of the Claimant on his own behalf and took account of the
statement, in an email, of Mr Watson, the Claimants former line manager. We also
took account of the evidence in identical statements from Mr A Mavin, Mr P Godding,
Ms J Corby, Mr D Fish, Mr C Raven and Mr D Ring, who also attended to give
evidence.
4 We heard the evidence of Ms J Cawsey, former Group Procurement Director; Mr A
Faulkner, Operations Manager; Mr G White, Group Financial Controller; Mr M Liilley
(or Lilley, his statement saying the former and his signature the latter), General
Manager; and Mr P Gledhill, former Operations Director for Chilled and Frozen.
5 We considered the documents to which we were referred in a bundle of over 500
pages.
6 We are, of course, aware that in considering the issue of whether or not the Claimant
was unfairly dismissed we should only consider evidence that was available to the
employer at the time the decision was taken: Devis v. Atkins [1977] AC 931. However,
there is also a claim for wrongful dismissal, and the Respondent has adduced a
substantial volume of evidence to show that the Claimant was in fact guilty of gross
misconduct.
7 In those circumstances we have endeavoured to ensure that we have not considered
the latter evidence when considering the issue of whether or not the Claimant was
unfairly dismissed.
8 We considered the parties’ submissions and the authorities cited to us. We make the
following findings of fact.
Findings of Fact
9 The Claimant was born on 21 March 1957 and has worked in the food processing
industry as a senior engineer for many years. Following a selection process, during
which he completed a health questionnaire and was provided with a copy of the First
Respondent’s ethics code of conduct, he started working for the First Respondent as
its Chief Engineer at the Respondent’s site known as “Westwood”, but also referred to
as “NCG”.
10 The First Respondent is a wholly owned subsidiary of an American Corporation in the
food processing industry. The First Respondent owns many brands that are household
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