Failure to beat offer

Smith v Trafford Housing Trust [2012] EWHC 3221 (Ch), NLJ 8 February

The claimant, having been demoted because of a remark he made on Facebook, claimed breach of contract while remaining in the trust’s employment. At trial, the judge found that the trust’s decision to demote Mr Smith was a “serious and repudiatory” breach of contract. However, the constraints of the common law meant that damages were limited to Mr Smith’s loss of earnings during his contractual period of notice of 12 weeks, only £98. He had rejected an offer of £1,000 but nevertheless opposed the trust’s application for costs relying on CPR 36.14(4) requires the court to take into account all the circumstances of the case when considering whether injustice would arise.