A Northern Ireland Industrial Tribunal has ruled partly in favour of a former customer service worker against her employer, Concentrix CVG Intelligent Contact Limited, awarding her £331.88 for an unauthorised deduction of wages while dismissing her claims of unfair dismissal and disability discrimination. The decision in case 34119/24IT was issued on 13 May 2026 following hearings held in Belfast in October 2025.

Katherine Lucy Sharpe, who began working for Concentrix on 12 November 2021 in a full-time remote role, brought claims of unfair dismissal, disability discrimination under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, and unlawful deduction of wages after her employment was terminated on 30 June 2024 by reason of redundancy. Concentrix, a provider of outsourced customer management services, conceded at the outset of the hearing that Sharpe had a disability at the relevant time - namely emotionally unstable personality disorder, depression and anxiety - and that she had been underpaid Statutory Sick Pay by £331.88.

Sharpe's role was part of the Virgin Media Inbound Movers Team, which was placed at risk of redundancy in March 2024 after Virgin Media decided to move the work to its operation in Manila. The decision affected all approximately 200 UK agents on that campaign. The tribunal found the redundancy situation was genuine and that the selection pool - comprising all employees on the Virgin Media Inbound Movers campaign in the UK - was fair.

Sharpe had been certified unfit for work from February 2024 due to anxiety with depression and remained on sick leave throughout the redundancy process. She argued she had been denied timely information about redeployment opportunities, that the respondent had failed to make reasonable adjustments, and that she had been subjected to harassment related to her disability. The tribunal rejected each of these claims. It found that internal job vacancies were available to all staff, including Sharpe, through the company's online portal, Workday, to which she had continued access during her absence. It also found that line managers had made repeated attempts to engage with Sharpe by text, email and telephone and had offered to conduct meetings in writing to reduce her stress.

A redeployment opportunity with a BMW campaign - described by Sharpe in private messages to her partner as near ideal - was identified for her, and her expression of interest was accepted. The role involved part-time hours following completion of two weeks of mandatory full-time training, due to start on 10 June 2024. The tribunal found that Sharpe did not progress with redeployment primarily because of her unwillingness to engage with the employer to allow it to assess her health situation and support needs. The tribunal noted that the company's team leader Naomi Johnston had proactively enquired with the BMW operations manager about a later training start date for Sharpe, but Sharpe chose not to follow up with the operations manager herself or respond to further correspondence.

On the wage underpayment, the tribunal found the incorrect payment of Statutory Sick Pay arose from administrative errors - attributable to negligence or incompetence rather than any deliberate action - linked to the multi-step process required to cancel AWOL status and trigger correct sick pay payments through payroll. The tribunal found the errors were not intentional and were not used to pressure Sharpe to return to work.

The tribunal, constituted by Employment Judge Bell and members Mrs D Adams and Mrs T Cregan, concluded unanimously that the respondent had acted reasonably in all the circumstances in treating redundancy as sufficient reason for dismissal, that the redundancy process was fair, and that none of the disability discrimination claims were made out. Sharpe did not appeal the redundancy dismissal through the company's internal appeals process.