At the heart of the matter was Helen King, a highly respected and much-loved Head of Hub and Support Services, who was allegedly hounded from her position by a fudged Redundancy Process driven essentially by the personal unfounded dislike of another member of the Council.
Helen had attempted to address the issues at work by starting a grievance about her colleague, which was upheld. It was this grievance that seemed to have triggered the sham redundancy. Rather than the colleague being disciplined, as would be appropriate, Helen found herself sacked due to redundancy. This did not seem right as Helen had increased the services at the Council, and she was busier than ever. Helen decided to challenge the reasons for her redundancy with legal advice and support from Jessica Gowar, Head of Employment at Ware & Kay Solicitors.
A gruelling 20 months later, the Judge has agreed that Newby and Scalby Town Council had produced a series of “creative accounting” in order to fabricate a redundancy situation. The case involved 3 days of witness evidence, after which the Judge announced he was “still confused about the Respondents case”. This was confirmed in the final judgement last Thursday is which the Judge praised the “consistent and compelling” evidence of Helen King and Reg Towse, (who had resigned as Chairman of the Council due to Helen`s treatment) and pronounced the redundancy process a sham and the process used to get rid of Helen as “lamentable”. Helen was awarded the maximum possible compensation for Unfair Dismissal as a result.
Although the redundancy selection criteria are not generally questioned by an Employment Tribunal, the above case teaches all employers that if you are looking to reduce your staff for any reason, you really need to make sure your reasoning is fair and transparent. You should make sure that your redundancy is for either an employee over-staff, change of location or job reduction – and be able to prove it with the correct consultation paperwork and employee engagement. If not, you will leave your self-exposed to Unfair Dismissal claims.
If you are considering staff reductions, job role changes, or location shifts, you must ensure your reasons are genuine, your process is transparent, and your documentation is thorough. Failure to follow proper redundancy procedures not only undermines employee trust—it can leave your organisation exposed to costly legal claims.
For legal advice on employment matters or redundancy processes, contact Jessica Gowar, Head of Employment at Ware & Kay Solicitors at York 01904 716000 or email jessica.gowar@warekay.co.uk.