East Anglia newspaper editor wins payout for redundancy

Posted 13/09/2009

The former editor of East Anglia newspaper the Haverhill Echo is to be awarded compensation after a tribunal found that his redundancy had been conducted unfairly.

David Hart, 56, initiated a compensation claim against his former employer Anglia Newspapers after he was selected for redundancy as part of a cost-cutting initiative.

The plantiff argued at the Bury St Edmunds employment tribunal that he had been selected and dismissed as a result of his age, claims which were dismissed by the final verdict.

However, employment judge David Skinner nevertheless deemed that Anglia Newspaper’s handling of the redundancy had been conducted in a way that violated employment law, thereby making it unfair.

A further hearing will now be conducted to decide how much compensation will be paid to Mr Hart.

This comes after the latest figures released by Acas revealed that the body had seen an increase in conciliation cases for unfair dismissal in the last year.