The claimant was found to have been automatically unfairly dismissed, but the ET judge limited the uplift on the compensatory award and the amount of the basic award, the sole reason being that the respondent's wife had died relatively recently.

The main ground for appeal was that the ET judge had taken into account an irrelevant consideration. The EAT agreed, saying that 1) it was a circumstance outside the Respondent’s role as an employer and the employment relationship generally; and 2) it was not a circumstance surrounding, related to or causally resulting in the failure to complete the statutory procedure (as in McKindless Group v McLaughlin [2008] IRLR 678). The EAT substituted their decision for that of the ET, and allowed a third ground of appeal, namely that the uplift also applied to the award for injury to feelings.

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