Mr AJ Ward-Davies v Ducat Law Limited, 1102579/2012

Heard at Ashford Employment Tribunals, 15 April 2013

 

Summary of Claim

This claim of constructive dismissal involved a solicitor working in a conveyancing (property law) company having resigned, and then brining a tribunal claim for constructive dismissal, race & disability discrimination.

 

The disability discrimination was based on depression.

The race discrimination claim was not qualified at all, and in all likelihood was simply a box ticked in error.

The unfair dismissal claim was said to be due to being “forced out of the job due to frequent, unjustified criticism, ability to deal with clients, and personal hostility”.

 

The claim did not have any financial value formally placed on it by the Claimant, and this never emerged during the formal proceedings of the tribunal, although the claims included: notice pay (£1,262), loss of earnings (at least eight months), and compensation for stress arising from bullying, harassment, and prejudice.

 

If a discrimination element of this case had been successful, along with the unfair dismissal element (there is no reason to believe either would have been successful), the claim could potentially have resulted in an award of more than £20,000.

 

The claim was resisted in its entirety by the respondent.

 

Summary of Result

 

The claim was due to be heard on 15^th April 2013. Immediately prior to presenting the case before the Tribunal, negotiations had been engaged in, and when the case was called, it was agreed before the Employment Judge that these discussions could be fruitful if permitted to continue.

 

The case was adjourned briefly, and there was an instruction issued to Karl Limpert on an amount the Respondent was willing to pay to settle the case. A significantly lesser amount (£500) was initially offered to the claimant during the tough negotiations, and while one of the Respondent’s representatives (present in the negotiations for consultation purposes, but not a direct party to these) remained in the room, there was no obvious reason to increase this – although the option was there to, the Claimant gave indications that they could be willing to settle for far less than they placed the value of their claim… and ultimately did.

 

Terms (including financial terms & non-legally-binding terms – providing a reference) were agreed, and the Judgment was made to pay the Claimant £500 (the tribunal had no jurisdiction to order that a reference be provided, although this was duly done).

 

Full Judgment

The full (brief) judgment is available here.

 

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