Camelot Group Plc v Hogg
A person undergoing selection for redundancy has a right to see her scores and know the criteria against which she is being scored. But does a failure to provide other information mean a dismissal is unfair?
Ms Hogg was made redundant following a cost cutting exercise. Camelot had carried out a consultation process and all the employees at risk of redundancy were invited to apply for the new roles that were created as a result of the re-organisation. Ms Hogg was unsuccessful. Ms Hogg was given her own total score at the interview, what scores she had been awarded under each criteria and the respective weightings afforded to each of those criteria . She then asked to see a copy of her interview notes but did not specifically challenge her scores. She received the notes prior to being told her post was redundant, but after the decision to dismiss had been taken. She won initially at the Employment Tribunal who held that it was unfair to dismiss her because she had not received the information she had requested before her dismissal.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal overturned this decision. It held that it is wrong to suggest that whenever an employee who is at risk of redundancy asks for information, an ensuing dismissal will be unfair if the information is not forthcoming. The question is whether, overall, there was a fair redundancy process. Ms Hogg could have used the appeal process to challenge her interview scores – she did not. Such a minor omission (to do what, in the circumstances, employers were not obliged to do) in what was otherwise a fair redundancy procedure did not make a dismissal unfair.
Comment: During selection for redundancy it is always a good idea to be as open as possible about the criteria for selection. Employers must provide a person’s scores if asked for them but there is no obligation to provide minutes of meetings. In this case Ms Hogg failed specifically to challenge her scores when requesting the minutes or at appeal. Camelot had no idea why she was requesting the interview notes so their late arrival did not make the dismissal unfair.