Case Studies

Real employment tribunal decisions, explained in plain English for employees. Each case sets out what happened, what the tribunal found, and what it means for you.

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Unfair Dismissal 55 Disability Discrimination 44 Discrimination 34 Procedural Fairness 32 Constructive Dismissal 31 Reasonable Adjustments 28 Employer duties 22 Equality Act 22 Occupational Health 22 Harassment 21

Redundancy 21 Mutual Trust and Confidence 18 Compensation 17 Employment Tribunal 16 Evidence and records 16 Disciplinary procedure 15 Contracts and Agreements 14 Grievance procedure 14 Pay 14 Whistleblowing 13 Breach of contract 12 Disciplinary Process 12 Capability 10 Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination 10 Misconduct 9 Protected disclosure 9 Settlement 9 Bullying 8 Detriment 8 Employment rights 8 Consultation 7 Management Conduct 7 Suspension 7 Time Limits 7 unpaid wages 7 Without Prejudice 7 case-law 6 Disciplinary Investigations 6 Employment Status 6 Ill-health capability 6 Resignation 6 Disciplinary 5 insolvency 5 notice pay 5 TUPE 5 work-related-stress 5 wrongful dismissal 5 Affirmation 4 duty-of-care 4 Implied Terms 4 Polkey Reduction 4 Right to Representation 4 Vicarious Liability 4 Victimisation 4 Worker Rights 4 Attendance Management 3 Investigation 3 Natural Justice 3 Public interest 3 Race Discrimination 3 Sick Leave 3 Trust and Confidence 3 Working time 3 Contributory Conduct 2 Disclosure 2 Dismissal procedure 2 Holiday Pay 2 ill-health 2 Last Straw 2 managerial-competence 2 National Minimum Wage 2 Restraint of Trade 2 sickness absence 2 written warning 2 absence 1 Adoption Leave 1 Agency Workers 1 bias 1 compensatory-award 1 Consistency 1 control-test 1 Cumulative Disclosures 1 dismissal 1 education 1 higher-education 1 HMRC and Tax 1 Information vs Allegation 1 Length of service 1 Opt-out agreements 1 Overtime 1 Protected Conversation 1 public-interest-test 1 Qualifying Disclosure 1 reason-for-dismissal 1 Religion or Belief Discrimination 1 self-employment 1 Sex Discrimination 1 Shared Parental Leave 1 statutory-guarantee 1 Strike-out Threshold 1 worker-status 1 Working Hours 1

Outcome

All Employee-favourable 157 Employer-favourable 42 Mixed 35

234 case studies

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Employee-favourable 2025

Being frozen out after you raise a genuine concern can be enough to justify resigning.

If your employer ignores a genuine whistleblowing concern and freezes you out afterwards, that pattern can be enough to justify resigning and claiming constructive dismissal, and your employer's failure to follow its own whistleblowing policy can increase your compensation.

Constructive Dismissal Detriment Mutual Trust and Confidence Protected disclosure Whistleblowing

Employee-favourable 2024

An employer cannot strip your rights by calling a meeting informal.

An employer cannot strip your rights by calling a meeting informal. You are entitled to know what a meeting is about before you attend it.

Constructive Dismissal Disciplinary procedure Mutual Trust and Confidence Occupational Health Procedural Fairness

Employee-favourable 2024

You have the right to see new evidence against you before you’re dismissed.

You have the right to see any new evidence used against you and to respond to it before you're dismissed, especially evidence that emerged after the investigation first concluded.

Disciplinary Investigations Natural Justice Procedural Fairness Unfair Dismissal

Employer-favourable 2024

An employee was on maternity leave when her employer restructured her department.

Your priority right to a suitable alternative vacancy applies to genuinely new or merged roles, not to surviving roles in a straightforward headcount reduction.

Redundancy

Employee-favourable 2024

If your employer knows a colleague is freezing you out and never fixes it, that can be constructive dismissal, even years later.

Being frozen out by a colleague, over months or years, can be constructive dismissal if your employer knew and never properly fixed it.

Bullying Constructive Dismissal Grievance procedure Mutual Trust and Confidence

Employee-favourable 2024

A trainer with three decades of experience in motor trade sales, including a strong track record running a car brand’s distributorship, was fairly selected for redundancy when his training team’s work genuinely dried up.

Your employer's duty during redundancy is to actively help you find suitable alternative work, not just point you to the same adverts an outside candidate would see.

Redundancy

Employee-favourable 2024

Reporting a colleague’s bullying of other staff can be whistleblowing, and it can protect you from being pushed out for raising it.

Reporting a colleague's bullying of other staff, not just bullying aimed at you, can be a protected disclosure that protects you if your employer retaliates.

Bullying Detriment Protected disclosure Whistleblowing

Employer-favourable 2024

Scoring you before consultation starts isn’t automatically unfair, but it’s a warning sign

Below the 20-person collective consultation threshold, fair individual consultation is what the law requires, and pre-completed scoring alone doesn't defeat it if your employer stayed genuinely open to challenging it.

Redundancy

Employee-favourable 2024

Mishandling Keeping in Touch days rarely causes a claim alone, but it can tip a wider pattern into unlawful discrimination.

Keeping in Touch days rarely cause a claim on their own, but mishandling them alongside other issues can tip a wider pattern of treatment into unlawful discrimination.

Discrimination Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination

Employee-favourable 2024

You don’t have to prove your manager meant to discriminate against you for it to count as harassment related to your race.

You don't need to prove your manager meant to discriminate against you for this to count as harassment. It's enough that their judgement about you was actually shaped by your race, disability, or another protected characteristic.

Discrimination Equality Act Harassment

Employee-favourable 2024

A new manager can destroy a working relationship in a single morning.

If you resigned because of how you were treated at work, you may have a claim for constructive dismissal. The law does not require a single dramatic act. A pattern of deliberate, unreasonable behaviour can be enough.

Constructive Dismissal Management Conduct Mutual Trust and Confidence

Employee-favourable 2024

If your employer promises to fix something after a grievance and then doesn’t, that broken promise can itself be harassment.

If your employer promises to fix something, through a grievance outcome or a return-to-work plan, and then doesn't deliver on it, that broken promise can itself count as harassment, separate from the original problem.

Discrimination Equality Act Harassment Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination Time Limits

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