Wardle v Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank [2011] EWCA Civ 770

Supplementary judgment concerning the amount of uplift to be applied to an award where the ET had applied a 50% uplift that was reduced to 10% by the EAT in the light of the size of the overall award. The Court of Appeal raised the uplift to 15%.

Case No: A2/2010/1905/EATRF

Neutral Citation Number: [2011] EWCA Civ 770

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL (CIVIL DIVISION)

ON APPEAL FROM THE EMPLOYMENT APPEAL TRIBUNAL

MR JUSTICE KEITH sitting with two lay members

UKEAT/0535/09 AND UKEAT/0536/09

Royal Courts of Justice

Strand, London, WC2A 2LL

Date: 01/07/2011

Before :

THE MASTER OF THE ROLLS

**LADY JUSTICE SMITH

**and

LORD JUSTICE ELIAS

Between :

WARDLE (Appellant)

- and -

CREDIT AGRICOLE CORPORATE AND INVESTMENT BANK (Respondent)

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Mr Simon Cheetham and Ms Amy Stroud (instructed by Messrs Pritchard Englefield) for the Appellant

Mr Christopher Jeans QC and Mr Paul Nicholls (instructed by Messrs Osborne Clarke) for the Respondent

Hearing dates : 12 April 2011

Supplementary Judgment As Approved by the Court

Crown copyright©

  1. Lord Justice Elias : [We gave judgment in this case on 11 May 2011](). In the light of the judgment the parties have agreed that the compensation payable to the appellant, Mr Wardle, prior to grossing up for tax and prior to uplift, is £192,361.67. Of that figure, £124,177.87 represents loss that is wholly referable to the dismissal. It is that figure which is subject to a percentage uplift which has to be applied in accordance with section 31 of the Employment Act 2002, to take account of Credit Agricole's failure to follow the statutory procedures prior to dismissing Mr Wardle.
  1. The only outstanding issue now is what uplift should be allowed. The Employment Tribunal had awarded a 50% increase and the EAT had substituted a figure of 10%. This court held that the EAT was entitled to apply that uplift, given the size of the award. However, since the award was reduced as a result of the judgment, we indicated that some modification of the 10% figure might be appropriate.
  1. Mr Wardle has personally made extensive submissions in writing, and has indicated that the uplift should be 30%. He has in the course of those submissions expressed his clear disagreement with the decision and seeks to re-open our conclusions with respect to it in various ways. That is not, however, something which we can now do.
  1. So far as the uplift itself is concerned, Mr Wardle submits this was a cynical and deliberate failure to comply with the procedures and that proper respect for the rule of law requires a significant uplift. Mr Nicholls, counsel for Credit Agricole, thinks that 30% would be far too high and would give a figure which would well exceed any payment which might be made for injury to feelings. He suggests that the 10% which the EAT thought appropriate should be the relevant figure.
  1. In our judgment, bearing in mind the considerations identified in the main judgment, and having regard to the fact that there were serious and cavalier breaches of the procedures, as the Tribunal properly found, we consider that an appropriate figure would be 15%. That would increase the current net figure by a sum which is a little short of £19,000. The parties can work out the exact figure.

Lady Justice Smith:

  1. I agree.

The Master of the Rolls:

  1. I also agree.

Published: 18/07/2011 09:44

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