The Applicants represented the European Works Council of the Respondent, a large multinational company, that was proposing a reorganisation. The Applicants were unhappy with the Respondents' compliance with their obligations under both the Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 1999 ("TICER") and the agreement made between the parties under TICER (the "Charter"). Following unsuccessful arbitration, the Applicants took their complaint to the Central Arbitration Committee ("CAC"), and claimed that the Respondent was liable to pay the expenses relating to the appointment of a legal representative to pursue the complaint with the CAC. The CAC decided that (1) the Respondent had failed to comply with the required information and consultation process before making a decision on the reorganisation, and (2) the Respondent's refusal to pay the expenses relating to the appointment of the legal representative was a breach of the Charter. The Applicants sought the issue of penalty notices in respect of each of those decisions.

The EAT held that the appropriate penalty for decision (1) was £35,000 (against a maximum of £100,000), in view of the Respondent's assertion that the failures were purely procedural; and it imposed a penalty of £5,000 for decision (2).