A tribunal has awarded ex-BlueSky Travel Systems staff compensation after ruling no attempt was made to consult when the business went into administration in 2009.
Each employee was initially awarded three months pay by the employment tribunal in Manchester, UK.
A group of 44 employees launched a class action against Thomas Cook just over three months after the collapse of the Manchester-based business over their treatment before, during and after its failure.
BlueSky went into administration at the end of September 2009 and there followed a bid from Thomas Cook for the intellectual property rights of the tech firm's iTour system, being rolled out by tour operating giant at the time.
The judgement sent to the parties involved earlier this month holds both BlueSky and JMCH (a Thomas Cook subsidiary) "jointly and severally liable" for paying the compensation.
The ruling was made under TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings [Protection of Employment]) legislation and awards 44 former employees 90 days pay.
BlueSky was awarded a £20 million contract by Thomas Cook in 2006 to develop a new on and offline retailing system as part of a project named Globe.
However, the iTour project hit the rocks in September 2009 when the contract was terminated (still unclear by who) because of turmoil in the travel sector.
Thomas Cook immediately moved to secure the software's future by employing about 25 ex-BlueSky employees to work on the system. Late last year Thomas Cook confirmed it was axing a long-running IT project and writing off £86.3 million in related costs.
A second element in the BlueSky employment tribunal relating to unfair dismissal is to be heard in November this year.
Thomas Cook did not respond to requests for comment.
NB: Justice image via Shutterstock