Ex employee-unfair dismissal

Zazen999

She arrives at that figure as it is 9 months @ £400 per month. Nice.

I really hope you don't pay her a penny.

BASSETT

Well I have no intention of giving her anything.
She refused a grievance meeting as she probably didn`t want to face us but we`ll have to face her anyway at the tribunal.

jazzyman01

She is likely claiming for loss of earnings as she will not be able to work while pregnant now.

Did you go for a prehearing review? At this the judge could have made it clear that if the case was frivolous or vexatious on her part that you could be awarded costs.

pinkshoes

Perhaps you should counter sue for loss of earnings due to her behaviour whilst employed?

Was it £100 a day your takings went up?

BASSETT

I haven`t been asked to attend a pre-hearing, her solicitor did not respond to my solicitor and she refused a grievance meeting. It like this step has been missed out. She`s claimed unfair dismissal and now went straight to saying she wants this money. She was 5 months prg when this happened so where does she get 9 months from? Sorry if thats a stupid question.

As for takings, they went up at least £100 daily, some days are nearly £300. (I know........... )

My solicitor did mention the vexatious thing, but I didn`t really understand it. I`ll cut and paste it.

"I would add that it is unusual for Employment Tribunals to make an order of costs against one party and generally the view taken is that a claim must be frivolous or vexatious before an award can be made"

I would like , for a start, to sue her for my solicitor costs.

Ballymackeonan

The £3600 is about barrister's costs for a day in court, a lot of solicitors will try on claiming about this amount in the hope that you will weaken and go for a settlement at a slightly lower figure...

Or maybe it's as compensation for her total (removed from till?) earnings

londondulwich

An order for costs was recently made against a claimant who lied.

Normally one or both parties sometimes exagerate, however in this case a crucial part of the claimant's case was, apparently, manufactured.

An abusive exchange was invented as evidence of discriminatory treatment.

If the tribunal comes to the conclusion that the reason for her dismissal was her conduct, that she knew that this was the true reason (because she knew she had been dishonest), but brought a claim on misconceived grounds (a lie), you might be able to use the case to recover some costs.

Here is a link to it:

http://www.employmentappeals.gov.uk/Public/Upload/08_0519fhwwRN.doc

The summary is on the third page.

zzzLazyDaisy

BASSETT wrote: »

I would like , for a start, to sue her for my solicitor costs.

The normal rule in tribunals is that each party pays their own costs, win or lose. It is very rare indeed for the tribunal to order the losing employee to pay the employers legal costs.

The tribunal would have to be satisfied that the case was 'frivolous and vexatious' - that is to say that the claim never has any realistic prospect of success and was merely a malicious action on behalf of the former employee. But it is extremely rare that a tribunal comes to that conclusion - they will normally say that the case was 'misconceived' - ie that the employee didn't understand the law and while their grievance was genuine, the law wasn't on their side.

So basically the general rule is that even if you successfully defend the claim, you will still have to fund your own legal fees. This is why many cases are settled out of court, even though the employee may not have a strong case - because it is cheaper to pay them off than fight the case.

BASSETT

I haven`t even got £50 to spare let alone £3600.
I will read the link, although myself and my partner, who runs the shop, are witnesses and plus another employee who was there at the time has said she will be a witness to her cancelling sales on the epos, presumably this is for her friends purchases so they didn`t have to pay, also her comments "he doesn`t know what stock he has in here" to "I hate it here, i`m looking for something else"
The ex can`t call anybody else as a witness as there were no other employees.

pookienoodle

Basset may I ask when she informed you that she was pregnant did you complete a pregnant worker risk assessement?
I only ask as extra consideration should have been taken as she had previous reccurent miscarriges.
She may try to say that she told you she could do no lifting, midwifes sometimes advise this.
do you have CCTV to show that you and your partner did the heavy lifting?this may be useful as it will show that she is lying and therefore unreliable.