Unfair Dismissal Employment Tribunal Cases
Review published unfair dismissal decisions, outcome patterns, visible award levels, and the employers that appear most often in the current Tribunal Intel dataset.
Claimant success rate
28%
of published unfair dismissal decisions where the claimant succeeded or partly succeeded
Median award
£4,810
typical award where compensation was recorded
Published decisions
9,111
Mean award
£15,426
Skewed by outliers
Highest award
£3,449,328.54
View decision →
Unfair dismissal awards over time
Median unfair dismissal award per year. Expand the source data below the chart.
Peak: £20,834
Show source dataHide source data
| Year | Median award |
|---|---|
| 2018 | £20,834 |
| 2019 | — |
| 2020 | £12,472 |
| 2021 | £4,724 |
| 2022 | £7,344 |
| 2023 | £5,799 |
| 2024 | £4,492 |
| 2025 | £3,903 |
| 2026 | £6,957 |
Largest unfair dismissal awards
| Employer | Award | Year | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of SouthamptonThe claimant's claims for wrongful dismissal, unfair dismissal, failure to pay holiday pay, direct religion or belief discrimination, direct race discrimination, indirect religion or belief discrimination, indirect race discrimination, harassment related to religion or belief, harassment related to race and victimisation were well founded. | £3,449,328.54 | 2021 | 1404855/2018 |
| Croydon Health Services NHS TrustThe claimant was a consultant cardiologist who was unfairly dismissed by the respondent NHS trust | £857,110 | 2020 | 2359206/2012 |
| The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS TrustThe claimant was unfairly dismissed and subjected to disability discrimination | £265,719 | 2020 | 1801339/2017 |
| Synthite LtdThe 49 claimants, who were members of the Unite trade union, claimed the respondent made an inducement relating to collective bargaining in breach of section 154B Trade Union & Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 | £225,270 | 2023 | 1601383/2022 |
| Metroline Travel LtdThe tribunal found that the claimant's complaint of unfavourable treatment because of something arising in consequence of disability and the claimant's complaint of unfair dismissal were well founded and succeeded | £153,261 | 2024 | 3305212/2023 |
| Croydon Health Services NHS TrustClaimant awarded £124,926.04 in respect of pension loss as final element of compensatory award. | £124,926 | 2020 | 2359206/2021 |
| Genesis Technology Services LtdThe claimant Mr N Satpal succeeded in his unfair dismissal claim, with a total award of £122,654.26 calculated based on various components including basic and compensatory awards, notice pay, injury to feelings, and interest. | £122,654.26 | 2024 | 3301843/2020 |
| Aqua Lane LtdThe respondent, Aqua Lane Limited, is ordered to pay the claimant £122,425.70 comprising a basic award of £9,800, a compensatory award of £75,982.63, an award for injury to feelings of £32,000, and interest. | £122,425 | 2026 | 6010549/2024 |
| Edenbeck LtdThe claimant was employed as a facilities management manager by the respondent from April 2019 until his summary dismissal on 20 December 2024 | £119,248 | 2026 | 6003187/2025 |
| Nottinghamshire County Council and The Governing Body of The Banks Road Infants and Nursery SchoolThe claimant succeeded in unfair dismissal and discrimination claims | £111,108 | 2024 | 2601319/2021 |
Most-frequent respondents
Recent decisions
[2026] EAT 96
University of Edinburgh
[2026] EAT 93
Royal Mail Group Ltd
[2026] EAT 86
Essex County Council
3304564/2025
O’Loughlin Commercials Ltd
6017288/2025
Forward (Wales) Ltd
6009880/2024
Relltek Ltd
[2026] EAT 80
Kirklees Council
2300946/2026
Lantain Ltd and A G Sandry
3203235/2022
Ryanair DAC and Ryanair UK Ltd
6018520/2024
I
Frequently asked questions
How many unfair dismissal claims are brought in the UK?
Our database holds 9,111 published unfair dismissal employment tribunal decisions. This reflects judgments published on GOV.UK, which are a subset of all claims brought (many settle or are withdrawn before a published judgment).
What percentage of unfair dismissal claims succeed?
Across published unfair dismissal decisions in our database, the claimant succeeded or partly succeeded in 28% of cases. Published judgments over-represent contested cases, so this is not a success rate for all claims filed.
What is the average payout for a unfair dismissal claim?
Among unfair dismissal decisions with a recorded award, the median award is £4,810 and the mean is £15,426.07. The mean is pulled up by a small number of very large awards, so the median is the more representative figure.
What was the largest unfair dismissal award?
The largest recorded award among published unfair dismissal decisions in our database is £3,449,328.54.
Examples of unfair dismissal cases employees won
Recent published unfair dismissal decisions where the claimant succeeded or partly succeeded, with controlled reason labels to show why the case appears to have been won.
3 recent examples
Automatically unfair reason
The dismissal was linked to a protected reason, such as whistleblowing, pregnancy, trade union activity, or statutory rights.
Example: 6012669/20253 recent examples
Constructive dismissal breach
The employee resigned in response to conduct that the tribunal treated as a fundamental or repudiatory breach.
Example: [2026] EAT 862 recent examples
Capability or sickness process flawed
The case turned on flaws in a capability, sickness absence, medical evidence, or occupational-health process.
Example: 3303470/20222 recent examples
Disciplinary process flawed
The disciplinary hearing, appeal, or related process was flawed enough to undermine the dismissal.
Example: 6010676/20246003187/2025
Edenbeck Ltd: 6003187/2025
Award
£119,248
Why it appears to have succeeded
Poor investigation
The employer appears to have lost because the investigation was incomplete, one-sided, or not enough to justify dismissal.
6027288/2025
Bay Freight Ltd: 6027288/2025
Award
£342
Why it appears to have succeeded
Constructive dismissal breach
The employee appears to have resigned after conduct that the tribunal treated as a serious breach by the employer.
4100604/2025
ICTS (UK) Ltd: 4100604/2025
Award
£45,129
Why it appears to have succeeded
Capability or sickness process flawed
The judgment points to flaws in a capability, sickness absence, medical evidence, or occupational-health process.
3302243/2025
Barkers (Cambridge) Ltd: 3302243/2025
Award
£32,361
Why it appears to have succeeded
Respondent default or no response
The respondent appears not to have engaged properly with the claim, leading to judgment without a full defended outcome.
6009627/2025
John Lewis plc: 6009627/2025
Award
£25,544
Why it appears to have succeeded
Disciplinary process flawed
The judgment points to flaws in the disciplinary hearing, appeal, or related process before dismissal.
Recent decisions
[2026] EAT 96
University of Edinburgh: [2026] EAT 96
[2026] EAT 93
Royal Mail Group Ltd: [2026] EAT 93
[2026] EAT 86
Essex County Council: [2026] EAT 86
3304564/2025
O’Loughlin Commercials Ltd: 3304564/2025
6017288/2025
Forward (Wales) Ltd: 6017288/2025
6009880/2024
Relltek Ltd: 6009880/2024
[2026] EAT 80
Kirklees Council: [2026] EAT 80
2300946/2026
Lantain Ltd and A G Sandry: 2300946/2026
3203235/2022
Ryanair DAC and Ryanair UK Ltd: 3203235/2022
6018520/2024
I: 6018520/2024 and 6015760/2024: 6018520/2024
Employers in this dataset view
Outcome mix
Related paths
Co-occurring claim types
No related claim-type mix is available yet.
How to read this page
This page pulls together recent unfair dismissal examples, how they were decided, and the employers that appear most often, so you can see how comparable cases have played out.
Unfair dismissal appears in a wide range of fact patterns, so published judgments are best read as directional evidence rather than a simple universal win-rate proxy.
The figures here are based on published judgments currently visible in Tribunal Intel, not every claim filed in the employment tribunal system.