Ms A Nichols v Product Compliance Specialists Ltd: 3314465/2019
JUDGMENT
The claim of damages for breach of contract, namely non-payment of a bonus, fails and is dismissed the claimant having failed to attend and prove her claim.REASONS
[1]On 2 May 2019 the claimant presented a claim which falls within the provisions of the Employment Tribunals Extension of Jurisdiction (England & Wales) Order 1994 being a claim for damages for breach of contract for monies outstanding following termination of her employment. She set out in her claim form that she was informed by the respondent that having handed in her letter of resignation (4 March 2019) prior to receiving a bonus for performance in 2018 she would forfeit the bonus. She met with the respondent group CEO Paul Brown. She set out in her claim form that the policy relied on by the respondent, namely that the payment was discretionary, was not in the employee handbook or any HR documents provided to her and that she was unaware of it.[2]In the response to the claim the respondent stated that the bonus was noncontractual and discretionary, that all employees were informed at the time that it was discretionary when introduced in July 2017 and that because the claimant was not employed on the specific date that the company advised that bonuses could be awarded and because the bonus was entirely discretionary there were no sums due and owing to the claimant. Case Number: 3314465/2019[3]Notice of Hearing was sent to the parties by the Tribunal on the 17 May 2019. Neither party has attended today. In the absence of any evidence before me today I am unable to determine the claim as presented in favour of the claimant on a balance of probabilities and accordingly in all the circumstances it must fail and be dismissed.