Patricia Kirkland v Caroline Mason t/a Hawthorn Education Services

Facts

The claimant, Patricia Kirkland, worked as an administration manager for the respondent, Caroline Mason trading as Hawthorn Education Services, which provides specialist one-to-one education to children outside mainstream education. She worked 13.75 hours per week from February 2019 until 24 August 2022, when she was summarily dismissed at a meeting for alleged misconduct, without a written decision or any right of appeal. The respondent contended unsuccessfully before the Employment Tribunal that she was a self-employed contractor; the Tribunal found she was an employee with the necessary qualifying service. In its liability judgment of 15 May 2024 the Tribunal found no investigation had been carried out, no procedure of any kind followed, and the dismissal outside the range of reasonable responses, making no contributory fault or Polkey deduction. At the remedy hearing the claimant sought £12,405.29 for 19 months' loss of earnings to 28 March 2024, when her short-term property rental business "took off", and a preparation time order for 155 hours. The Tribunal awarded £9,875.74 in total, including a compensatory award limited to six months' earnings on the footing that she had failed to mitigate, and a preparation time order of £1,000. She appealed against the amount of the compensatory award and the amount of the preparation time order.