Lord Sugar was successful in his defence of the constructive dismissal claim brought by Stella English, a former winner of the BBC television show The Apprentice.  Click on the link to read our April 2013 article on this case.

Following the victory, Lord Sugar set about trying to get Stella English to pay £35,000 towards his legal bill, which had amounted to the substantial sum of £50,000.  However, he failed in his bid.  The Tribunal decided Ms English’s claim was not motivated by malice, therefore she should not have to foot Lord Sugar’s legal bill.

The position in the Employment Tribunal is unlike that in the civil courts where the losing party is often ordered to pay the legal costs incurred by the successful party.  In the Employment Tribunal an order to pay costs is the exception rather than the rule.

To succeed in an application for costs, the applicant will have to show that the other party:

The test is a hard bar to hurdle and most parties fail to prove the existence of one of the above circumstances to the satisfaction of the Tribunal.

Stella English, who won The Apprentice in 2010, brought a claim for unfair constructive dismissal against her employer Amshold, one of a group of companies owned by Lord Alan Sugar. She argued that her employer had breached the implied term of trust and confidence through a series of incidents that occurred during her employment, including an acrimonious meeting with Lord Sugar that took place in September 2011.

The tribunal found that the conduct Ms English complained of either did not occur or was not sufficient to damage the relationship of trust and confidence. It noted that despite this conduct she had entered into new contracts of employment with Amshold and with an associated company, Viglen.

The tribunal decided that she had not been entitled to end the employment contract and bring a claim for unfair constructive dismissal. It also found that, by entering into further contracts of employment with Amshold and Viglen, she had reaffirmed her commitment to her employers. The tribunal concluded that there had been no dismissal, only a resignation, and her claim accordingly failed.

This case is a reminder of how difficult it can be for an employee to succeed in a claim for unfair constructive dismissal. The onus lies with the employee to identify the relevant term that has been broken and to prove that the breach was sufficiently serious to entitle the employee to resign. Where it is alleged that the implied term of trust and confidence has been breached, the employee must show that the employer’s conduct was so serious as to destroy or seriously damage trust and confidence. It is also important that the employee resign promptly once a breach has been committed, otherwise their delay might be interpreted as acceptance of the employer’s conduct.

CASE Ms S English v Amshold Group Ltd, Employment Tribunal, 10 April 2013

Image: Copyright Damien Everett