SBH Windermere Ltd & Anor v S Nunns

Facts

The respondent, Mr S Nunns, brought complaints of harassment against SBH Windermere Limited and Mr A Wilson. Following a liability hearing held from 31 May to 2 June 2023, the Employment Tribunal upheld several of those complaints, and by a remedy judgment of 5 April 2024 awarded him £35,656 in compensation. That award included six months' future loss, calculated by deducting the Universal Credit which the Tribunal expected Mr Nunns to receive. On 7 April 2024 Mr Nunns emailed the Tribunal explaining that once the compensation reached his bank account he would be above the savings threshold for Universal Credit and would lose £1,100 a month. A letter from the Department of Work and Pensions referred to the £16,000 cap on benefits but also to "New Style Job Seekers Allowance" and "New Style Employment and Support Allowance". On reconsideration the Tribunal accepted that it had not had the foresight to see that payment of the award would stop the Universal Credit payments it had taken into account, and by a reconsideration judgment dated 18 October 2024 it increased the compensation to £43,044. The appellants appealed, contending that if the Tribunal was going to revisit the award in the light of the effect on Universal Credit, it should also have considered whether other benefits were available and whether Mr Nunns had mitigated his loss.