A Northern Ireland Industrial Tribunal has ruled that Clifford Connolly was automatically unfairly dismissed by haulage company R Barkley and Sons Limited, after the firm failed to follow statutory dismissal procedures before terminating his employment on 21 December 2023. The tribunal ordered the company to pay Connolly a total of £22,397.49 in compensation.

Connolly, who was 67 at the time of his dismissal and worked as a Transport Planner on the company's UK desk, brought claims covering unfair dismissal, disability discrimination, breach of contract, and failure to pay a redundancy payment. The tribunal, chaired by Employment Judge Bell and sitting in Belfast, dismissed all claims except that of automatic unfair dismissal.

The company acknowledged it had not followed statutory dismissal procedures but argued that the outcome would have been the same had the procedures been observed. The tribunal rejected this position. It found that the respondent had not issued a written invitation to a meeting, had not provided the claimant with a meaningful opportunity to influence the outcome before a decision was reached, and had not offered any appeal process. The claimant's dismissal letter, sent by email and post on 21 December 2023, cited a downturn in business and referenced the claimant's health as a factor.

The tribunal found the principal reason for dismissal was a business reorganisation carried out in the interests of economy and efficiency, following a significant decline in the company's turnover through 2023. It was satisfied this constituted a potentially fair reason, but the failure to complete the statutory procedure rendered the dismissal automatically unfair under Article 130A(1) of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996.

On the question of disability discrimination, the tribunal found that Connolly had not met the burden of proof required to establish he was a disabled person within the meaning of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 at the relevant time. While accepting he had a past medical history of ischaemic heart disease, the tribunal was not satisfied that, absent the effects of medication, his condition had a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities in the categories required by the legislation. All disability-related claims were dismissed.

In assessing compensation, the tribunal applied a 10% Polkey reduction, reflecting its view that there was a 10% chance the claimant would have been dismissed in any event had proper procedures been followed. It reasoned that a fair process would likely have delayed any dismissal decision beyond the point at which a vacancy arose on the company's Northern Ireland desk in early January 2024, which could have been offered to Connolly as suitable alternative employment. The tribunal also found that Connolly had unreasonably failed to mitigate his loss by making no job applications throughout 2024, and limited compensation to a period of 39 weeks from the date of dismissal. A 25% uplift was applied to the award under Article 17 of the Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 2003, reflecting the respondent's failure to complete the statutory procedure.

The total award comprised a basic award of £2,676, a compensatory award of £16,935.50, a Polkey reduction of £1,693.50, and an Article 17 uplift of £4,479.49, producing a final figure of £22,397.49. The tribunal noted that recoupment provisions do not apply as the claimant did not claim benefits after his employment ended.