HR Articles

In Stothard v Durham University, the Claimant was suspended following media

In Gallacher v Abellio Scotrail, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that, in rare circumstances, an employee can be fairly dismissed without any procedure, including the absence of an appeal.

In Tai Tarian Limited v Howell Wyn Christie, the Claimant (a carpenter) was dismissed by his employer following an anonymous complaint that he had made homophobic comments during a visit to a client’s property.

This week, in Base Childrenswear v Otshudi, the Court of Appeal confirmed that not being honest about the reason for dismissal can show that the employer has a discrimination case to answer.

In North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust v Gregg, the Court of Appeal overturned an injunction that had prevented an employer from continuing with disciplinary proceedings pending the outcome of police enquiries.

We previously blogged on the High Court case of Agoreyo v London Borough of Lambeth, in which the High Court held that the suspension of a teacher was a “knee jerk reaction” which breached the implied term of trust and confidence (enabling Ms Agoreyo to resign and claim constructive dismissal)

In Talon Engineering Ltd v Smith, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (the ‘EAT’) held that an employer’s refusal to postpone a disciplinary hearing for two weeks to enable the Claimant’s union official to accompany her rendered the subsequent dismissal unfair. In this case, the Claimant faced disciplinary action for sending unprofessional emails.

In NHS 24 v Pillar the claimant was a nurse practitioner who was dismissed for gross misconduct after she had failed to call 999 for a patient suffering a heart attack. The investigation into this Patient Safety Incident (PSI) also included two earlier PSIs, where no disciplinary action had been taken, including one which took place some 3 years earlier.

In Agoreyo v London Borough of Lambeth, three allegations of unreasonable force against pupils were made against a primary school teacher.

In the case of Elmore v The Governors of Darland High School, the EAT upheld the decision of the ET that the dismissal of a mathematics teacher on capability grounds was fair, despite the fact that the school’s appeal panel gave no reasons for its decision and none of its members were called as witnesses at tribunal.