Constructive dismissal claimant gets full costs

A schoolteacher has won her claim of constructive dismissal and been awarded full legal costs of more than £60,000, after an employment tribunal found that her head teacher had fabricated evidence and written a "secret letter" to the governors in order to force her out of her job.

The tribunal found it "inconceivable" that the employer, knowing that these facts would come to light in the proceedings, should have thought it had any prospect of defending the claim successfully.

It is rare for either party to recover any of their legal costs in an employment tribunal claim, but tribunals do have the power to award costs where a party has acted "vexatiously, abusively, disruptively, or otherwise unreasonably", or has been "misconceived" in bringing or continuing proceedings. This includes situations in which the claim, or the employer's defence to the claim, has no reasonable prospect of success.

Upholding the tribunal's decision, the Employment Appeal Tribunal said it was "difficult to imagine a more critical series of findings of fact and conclusions by an employment tribunal on a particular individual".

Kew College Ltd v Parsley EAT/0565/06