Partner Article

Alan Sugar tribunal: a pretty poor case

Martin Pratt, associate in the employment team at Lester Aldridge LLP, shares his views on the constructive dismissal case brought against Alan Sugar by former winner of The Apprentice, Stella English.

It is unsurprising that Ms English lost her case. From press reports of the case it appears that her major complaints were that while working for Lord Sugar she was given no work and that her job, effectively, did not exist.

In most circumstances, however, there is no general obligation on an employer to provide the employee with something to do, and by her own evidence she seems to have effectively admitted to the tribunal that her role was redundant.

On that basis the tribunal was unlikely to find that her contract had been breached and that she was thus entitled to resign and claim constructive dismissal.

Even if they had, it is quite possible that her damages would have been minimal on the grounds that she was immediately offered another job by Lord Sugar after her resignation and, even if she hadn’t taken the new role, she would have been made redundant within a short period of time anyway.

All in all it looks like she had a pretty poor case.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lester Aldridge LLP .