The claimant worked for the respondent from 2019 to 2021 when she was dismissed following a period of sickness related absences. In her resulting claim, the ET held that the respondents had failed to make reasonable adjustments for her disability; the claimant had been subject to sex related harassment after she was told that if she did not wear a scarf she might find it easier to attract men; and that the claimant had been automatically unfairly dismissed for asserting a statutory right to be paid. As part of her award, an amount of £5000 was included for aggravated damages largely because the respondents were a firm of solicitors.

In this judgment HHJ Tayler conducts a review of the relevant law around aggravated damages before concluding the ET had not properly identified whether there were additional aggravating factors that caused increased injury and that the award appeared to be [22] * "no more than the Employment Tribunal expressing its displeasure that a firm of solicitors should have treated an employee so badly. It sounds punitive, which is not a permissible basis to award aggravated damages."*

He therefore remitted the claim to the same tribunal for reconsideration, as he also did with another appeal concerning SSP.