In Hilco Capital Ltd v Harrington, the claimant was dismissed by her employer. She made a claim to the employment tribunal and succeeded in a complaint of unfair dismissal for whistleblowing. The claimant did not apply for any jobs in the period from her dismissal to the remedy hearing because she believed it would come to nothing when prospective employers learned that she was a whistleblower.
At the remedy hearing, the employment tribunal did not reduce the compensatory award for an unreasonable failure to mitigate losses. It accepted the claimants concerns that job-seeking was not worthwhile once future employers learnt of the fact she was a whistleblower.
This was appealed by the respondent.
The EAT observed that the fact that she had not made any applications was not necessarily fatal to her case if she was able to provide evidence that was sufficiently compelling to justify her not having tested the water with even a single application.
The EAT held the employment tribunal was wrong to simply accept the claimant’s concerns without evidence to support them. The employment tribunal was wrong to have found that the claimant did not act unreasonably in failing to mitigate her loss.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/635fa550e90e0705a8c353f5/Hilco_Capital_Ltd_v_Denise_Harrington__2022__EAT_156.pdf
James Williams
