Costs awards against employers

8th May 2018

The usual approach in Employment Tribunal proceedings is for either party to meet their own legal costs, regardless of whether they win or lose.

However, when costs are awarded, the Tribunal has to decide when costs should be awarded from. A recent case has considered just that point and the employer received an expensive bill as a result. A Tribunal has the power to dismiss a claim (or defence) if it has no reasonable prospects of success. A Tribunal can award costs against a party where proceedings are misconceived, have been brought or conducted unreasonably, frivolously, vexatiously or otherwise disruptively. This wording enables claims to be brought against employers who unreasonably defend cases. In the case of Sunava Ltd v Martin, the EAT upheld a Tribunal's decision to award the employee's costs extending beyond the costs caused by the employer's unreasonable conduct. In other words they ordered the employer to pay the costs that the employee had incurred before the ET3 (the company's defence) was filed. Please click here to read the article in full via the Lupton Fawcett blog.