Road Haulage Association wins unfair dismissal claim over redundancy

The Road Haulage Association (RHA) has won an unfair dismissal claim brought by a former employee.

In its judgment issued last week, an Employment Tribunal in Croydon, Surrey, found unanimously that the redundancy of Gerald Wilson – who had worked as an IT systems architect at the Weybridge, Surrey headquarters of the RHA – was genuine.

Mr Wilson was one of twelve staff that were made redundant in the Summer of 2009, following the restructuring, reorganisation and relocation of the RHA’s accounts and marketing functions from its Weybridge office to Peterborough. Wilson told the Tribunal he believed his redundancy was "unfair and unnecessary" due to there being continuing need for the work.  However, the Tribunal found that all statutory dismissal and redundancy procedures were all properly followed and adhered to.

RHA Chief Executive, Geoff Dunning, said:

“We are delighted that our actions have been exonerated. We were entitled to make the changes necessary for the efficacy of our business and make staff redundant, and did so in the rightful, legal and proper manner.”

Workplace Law Network’s Redundancy factsheet provides a checklist of the most important issues for employers to consider in a redundancy process.

Mr Wilson said he was "disappointed" by the judgment and is reviewing his options.