More than 150 former employees of closed firm Axiom Ince have made successful employment claims over the process by which they were made redundant.
Employment Judge Nicolle ruled that all the claimants were dismissed last October without any consultation and with no written notice.
The tribunal issued a declaration that the firm has failed to comply with its obligations under section 188 of the Trade Union Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.
Successful claimants will now be entitled to a protective award of 90 days’ gross pay which will be paid from the National Insurance Fund, with any shortfalls being classified as unsecured claims in the ongoing Axiom Ince administration.
The firm ceased trading on 3 October following an intervention by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, resulting in its closure and more than 350 redundancies from its 14 offices.
North west firm Pearson Solicitors was instructed to act on behalf of 153 claimants who were unlawfully dismissed and their total claim is estimated to be worth £1.9m.
Alan Lewis, employment partner and protective award claims specialist at Pearson, said: ‘The demise of Axiom Ince Limited has had a significant impact on the many employees and clients of the group and I am pleased to have been able to assist in obtaining additional compensation for those employees affected by the collapse.’
Lewis also represented around 70 claimants who had lost their jobs following the collapse of consolidator firm Metamorph, which was also intervened into by the SRA.
He added: ‘This is another successful outcome against yet another law group that failed to follow appropriate consultation procedures regarding widescale redundancies. It just goes to show that no one is immune from companies that cease trading for whatever reason, not even in the legal profession.’
Axiom Ince had grown rapidly last year through the acquisitions of Ince & Co and Plexus Legal. At the time of its closure, 152 people were made redundant in Leeds, 134 in London and 56 in Cardiff. The majority of the claimants received emails on the day of closure giving notice of termination of their employment with immediate effect. The tribunal found they were dismissed without notice and without any warning or consultation.
It is understood that as many as half of employees have not pursued claims, with another small cohort bringing their own claims as litigants in person.
In June, the Manchester tribunal awarded one former Axiom Ince employee with 13 years’ service a total of more than £20,000 for redundancy payment and notice pay. Her claim for a protective award under the Trade Union Act was unsuccessful as the Manchester office employed fewer than 20 staff.
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