HR vs the law | 'Sacked for taking lunch break' & other surreal employment tribunals from 2022

A manager has been awarded a five-figure sum after her boss sacked her for taking a lunch break.

Tracie Shearwood was compensated to the tune of £11,000 following the incident at Lean Education and Development in the West Midlands.

An employment tribunal hears that, by heading out to lunch with two colleagues, Shearwood “enormously” angered the firm’s managing director Maxine Jones, who viewed the decision as “disloyalty” during what was described as a period of crisis for the business,“ according to the legal documents.

Shearwood was sacked soon afterwards for gross misconduct, but she has now successfully sued her old employers for unfair dismissal and won £11,885 in compensation.