£25k payout | Top-earning exec unfairly dismissed after firm backtracked on promised pay rise

A senior executive at a digital consultancy was unfairly dismissed after her employer decided it could no longer afford the pay rise it had promised her, an employment tribunal has ruled.

Grace Ejiga, formerly Head of Bid Management at Olive Jar Digital, was the company’s highest-paid employee on a salary of £80,000 plus commission. She was sacked in May 2024 following what the tribunal found was an “artificially constructed” attempt to paint her departure as a resignation.

Employment Judge Lewis ruled that Ejiga had been “dismissed with immediate effect” and that her employer failed to prove any valid reason for doing so, branding the firm’s actions “extremely heavy-handed”.

Ejiga was awarded over £25,000 in compensation for unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal, and unauthorised deductions from wages.