News:
LOCAL IT EMPLOYER VICTORIOUS AT EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNAL
Norwich employer MASS Computers Ltd were today celebrating the
successful conclusion of a complex Employment Tribunal case brought
against it by a former employee, Mr Paul Dennis.
Mr Dennis
claimed constructive dismissal, breach of contract, unpaid wages and a
breach of the flexible working regulations. After a two day hearing,
followed by a third day to deal with the issue of costs, the Tribunal
unanimously dismissed all of Mr Dennis’ claims. Judge Ash held that he
found Mr Lake, managing director of the Respondent, to be a “honest,
accurate, considered and compassionate man” and that Mr Dennis had
behaved “in an increasingly unreasonable way towards his employer”.
The
Tribunal also held that “there was overwhelming evidence that the
Claimant, and possibly his wife, were contemplating some form of
insurance fraud using MASS’ registered office address, phone number and
VAT number” and that Mr Dennis resigned “quite simply because he was
found out” and not because of any “breach of contract by the employer –
indeed in this case we can not find any breaches of contract by the
employer”. Judge Ash had concluded his judgment by stating that “this
is a case that should not have been brought”.
As well as
dismissing each of Mr Dennis’ claims, the Tribunal today ordered Mr
Dennis to pay £10,000 towards MASS’ legal costs (the maximum sum the
Tribunal are empowered to order) on the basis that he acted
vexatiously, unreasonably and that the claim had no reasonable
prospects of success.
Dan Chapman, Partner and Head of the
Employment Team at Norwich firm Leathes Prior, conducted the advocacy
throughout the Tribunal proceedings. Mr Chapman remarked that “this was
a highly unusual case, in that the first day of the hearing took place
in September 2007 and we only concluded matters today. For that very
reason, and in view of the serious nature of the allegations made by
the claimant, it is hugely satisfying to achieve such a just outcome
for our client, who as the Tribunal recognised, are a fantastic
employer who did nothing whatsoever to warrant finding themselves in
this horrid position.”
Mike Lake, managing director of MASS
and a witness in the proceedings, commented that, “Although I am
stunned at the apparent ease in which a wholly unreasonable tribunal
claim can be brought against an employer I consider it a stroke of good
fortune that I was introduced to Dan Chapman of Leathes Prior. Dan’s
expertise, experience and attention to detail not only conclusively won
us the case but also completely exonerated our company of all blame.
Dan then went on to ensure that our case became one of only a handful,
per year, in the whole of the UK to be awarded maximum costs. This was
all an extremely unpleasant experience however; Dan’s calming influence
and confident approach always gave us hope in a system that seems so
heavily stacked against an employer.”
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