Unfair dismissal cases won in the UK
Examples of unfair dismissal cases won in the UK, based on published employment tribunal judgments. See outcomes, awards, and why claimants succeeded.
Visible cases
8,298
published decisions tagged with unfair dismissal
Claimant wins
1,842
outright claimant-successful unfair dismissal decisions
Partial wins
1,125
partially successful unfair dismissal decisions
Success rate
39.1%
claimant-successful or partially successful share
What this page shows
Dataset view
8,298 visible unfair dismissal cases, of which 3,248 were claimant-successful or partially successful.
Recent sample
Theme cards are drawn from 19 recent published successful or partially successful decisions with extracted reasoning. The case list below is narrower: it only shows examples where the claimant received a visible monetary award.
What counts as a win
The main success-rate figure combines outright claimant wins and partially successful outcomes.
Compensation note
Award figures are case-level amounts attached to unfair dismissal tagged decisions and may include mixed-claim cases.
Visible compensation in successful cases
Cases with compensation
926
Median visible award
£4,606
Average visible award
£14,547
These are case-level awards attached to unfair dismissal tagged decisions. Some judgments contain mixed claims, so the money is not always attributable solely to unfair dismissal.
Common themes in recent published wins
These are rule-based groupings from extracted summaries, reasons, and key issues across the recent published sample. Use them as navigation into the underlying cases, not as legal conclusions by themselves.
5 sampled cases
Flawed process before dismissal
Employers are expected to investigate properly, hold a fair hearing, and give the employee a chance to respond before dismissing. Cases in this group were lost because the employer skipped steps, rushed the process, or denied the employee basic procedural rights.
Example signal: The tribunal found that the respondent's dismissal of the claimant was unfair; the dismissal was not procedurally and substantively fair, though a 10% Polkey deduction was applied to reflect the possibility the claimant might have been dismissed anyway had a fair procedure been followed. 3310770/2024
3 sampled cases
Dismissal for a protected reason
Employees automatically win if they were dismissed for certain reasons — such as being pregnant, raising a workplace safety concern, blowing the whistle, or asserting a statutory right. The employer's conduct doesn't matter; the reason for dismissal makes it automatically unfair.
Example signal: The tribunal found that the claimant was unfairly dismissed by the Second Respondent following a TUPE transfer of the cleaning services, and awarded compensation of £5291 accordingly. 2309591/2024
3 sampled cases
The employer didn't have a good enough reason
Some wins come down to the employer simply not proving their case — the evidence was too weak, the misconduct or poor performance wasn't clearly established, or the decision to dismiss was one no reasonable employer would have made in the circumstances.
Example signal: The tribunal found that the dismissal fell outside the band of reasonable responses, considering the claimant's length of service, the seriousness of allegations, the impact on the claimant, and specific mitigating factors. 3200299/2024
Recent unfair dismissal cases where employees received money
1811265/2024
Miss A Gray v Mantelpiece PR Ltd: 1811265/2024
Award
£63,500
The tribunal found the dismissal was unfair and awarded the claimant a basic award of £3,500 plus compensation for past financial losses of £60,000, totalling £63,500.
6032179/2025
Mr C Hesketh v The Phone Guys Burnham on Sea Ltd: 6032179/2025
Award
£750
The tribunal found both the unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal claims to be well-founded on their merits, and therefore awarded the claimant a basic award of £250 for unfair dismissal and £500 for wrongful dismissal.
2309591/2024
Z M Gilbertson v AAA Properties Group Ltd T/a Servicemaster and The Enquire Learning Trust T/a Elliston Primary Academy: 2309591/2024
Award
£2,321.80
The tribunal found that the claimant was unfairly dismissed by the Second Respondent following a TUPE transfer of the cleaning services, and awarded compensation of £5291 accordingly.
6030722/2025
Mrs D Spencer v The Baytree Welshpool Ltd: 6030722/2025
Award
£12,183.53
The tribunal found that the claimant was unfairly dismissed by reason of redundancy and that the respondent breached the claimant's contract of employment and made unauthorised wage deductions, failed to pay accrued holiday pay, and failed to provide written employment particulars.
6028053/2025
J Pick v RJD Air Conditioning Services Ltd: 6028053/2025
Award
£2,369
The tribunal found that the claimant was unfairly dismissed, the respondent made unauthorized wage deductions, failed to pay holiday pay in accordance with the Working Time Regulations, and was in breach of its duty to provide written employment particulars.
2203336/2025
Mrs D C Zota Polanco v Complete Cleaning Services London Ltd: 2203336/2025
Award
£12,110
The tribunal found that the claimant was unfairly dismissed and was entitled to notice pay. The respondent failed to follow fair dismissal procedures or substantive grounds for dismissal.
1802050/2025
Ms B Liu v Mini Island Ltd: 1802050/2025
Award
£5,892
The claimant's claims were successful on their merits. The tribunal found the claimant was entitled to unpaid wages, national minimum wage arrears, notice pay, a compensatory award for unfair dismissal, accrued holiday pay, and compensation for breach of the written statement of employment particulars obligation.
8001674/2024
Mr D M Low v Ultra Catering Ltd: 8001674/2024
Award
£11,270
The tribunal found that the claimant was dismissed in breach of the Employment Rights Act 1996 for making protected disclosures, which is automatically unfair dismissal, and awarded compensation for loss of earnings and other consequential losses.
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Data notes
Treat the win-rate number as directional. It covers published judgments visible here, not every unfair dismissal claim filed in the tribunal system.
Use the case examples to spot comparable fact patterns, then read the underlying judgment before drawing conclusions about your own position.