An Industrial Tribunal in Belfast has ruled that Manfreight Ltd unfairly dismissed HGV driver Janos Vidovics after the company's payroll administrator mistakenly concluded he had resigned while he was absent from work following a heart attack. The tribunal ordered the Newtownabbey-based haulage firm to pay Vidovics a basic award of £3,280.50. Separate claims for direct disability discrimination and failure to make reasonable adjustments were dismissed.

Vidovics, a Hungarian national, suffered a heart attack in December 2022 and was subsequently absent from work. He required medical clearance before he could return to HGV driving duties. On 19 March 2024, he emailed the company's payroll administrator, Janice Briggs, informing her that he would not regain his driving licence for at least another six months following an unsuccessful medical assessment.

The respondent's position was that Briggs misinterpreted that email as a resignation. On 26 April 2024, Briggs emailed Vidovics referring to his "leaving date," paid out accrued holiday, and issued a P45 with a leaving date of that day. A follow-up email from Briggs on 29 April 2024 acknowledged the P45 may have been sent in error, stating she believed the claimant had "officially left" on 15 March. The tribunal found that email did not retract the dismissal, which had already taken effect on 26 April 2024.

The tribunal found the wording of Vidovics's 19 March email would not have been interpreted by a reasonable recipient as a resignation, noting his use of phrases such as "I won't give up" and "I will try again." The tribunal also noted that on 6 April 2024 - three weeks before the P45 was issued - Vidovics had submitted a Statement of Fitness for Work, and no steps were taken by the respondent to clarify the earlier email before proceeding to terminate his employment.

Employment Judge M. Reid, sitting with members Mr I. Carroll and Mr M. Robinson, found the dismissal unfair on two grounds. First, the respondent acted unreasonably under Article 130(4) of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 by failing to take steps to verify whether Vidovics had actually resigned before terminating his contract. Second, the dismissal was automatically unfair under Article 130A of the same order because the respondent failed to follow the statutory dismissal procedure - no written statement of grounds, no meeting, and no appeal process was provided. The tribunal further found the respondent had not demonstrated it would have dismissed Vidovics in any event had proper procedures been followed.

On the disability discrimination claims, the tribunal dismissed both. On direct discrimination, it found no facts from which it could infer that disability was the ground for dismissal - the operative cause was the mistaken belief in resignation. On the failure to make reasonable adjustments, the tribunal found the dismissal arose from a one-off mistaken belief rather than any established or repeatable practice, and that in any case no adjustment had been identified that could have alleviated any substantial disadvantage, given Vidovics was medically certified as unfit to work and no alternative role existed within the company.

The basic award of £3,280.50 was calculated on the basis of three years' continuous service - running from 29 March 2021 to 26 April 2024 - at 1.5 weeks' pay per year of service, applied at the statutory cap of £729 per week. The tribunal rejected the respondent's argument that a gap in employment records between July and August 2021 constituted a break in continuity, accepting the claimant's evidence that the period in question was agreed annual leave. No compensatory award was made, as Vidovics had withdrawn any claim for loss of earnings.