Public law solicitors needed to challenge unfair dismissal cap

Employment firm Compromise Agreements Ltd is appealing to solicitors specialising in public law to represent it in a judicial review of the government's cap on unfair dismissal awards.

Alex Monaco, a solicitor advocate and the firm's sole director, said he had already recruited barristers, including a QC, to work on a 'pro bono' basis in the judicial review.

Monaco said he launched the challenge last month against the government's decision to limit the cap on unfair dismissal awards, from 29 July 2013, to a year's salary or £74,200, whichever is the lower.

"This law penalises pregnant women, disabled people and older workers," Monaco said. "It lets guilty corporations off the hook, which have previously been breaking the law.

"It will lead to a culture of impunity for employees wanting to fire people. Their claims will never come to court."

Monaco said there would be no rulings yet, based on the reduced cap, but appealed to solicitors with clients experiencing difficulties to come forward. If clients agreed, their cases could be used as examples in the judicial review.

In a version of his witness statement, published on the firm website, Monaco said: "When it became clear that no one else was going to undertake this judicial review, I felt that it was my public duty to act.

"The new cap on unfair dismissal compensation of one year's salary will primarily impact those earning less than £74,200 per year, and who are likely to be out of work for more than a year following an unfair dismissal.

"For instance, older people are more likely to be awarded more than a year's salary by employment tribunals in my experience. This is because they are more likely to be out of work for more than a year, and therefore would have been eligible to more than a year's compensation were it not for the new cap."

Monaco said he also believed the cap would disproportionately affect women, ethnic minorities and disabled people.

"The same groups take longer to find employment than other groups, and therefore they would be more likely to be affected by the cap after winning an unfair dismissal claim. Furthermore, one year's salary for them will be lower than those from other groups (because they earn less)."

In the latest statement of grounds, published on the site, Compromise Agreements argues that many claimant employment lawyers operate on a contingency fee basis and, with the new cap, "a claimant on a very low wage would hardly be able to convince a lawyer to take on their case".

Monaco said there was no date for the judicial review hearing yet, but the Treasury Solicitor had to respond by 24 January, after which the case would be listed.