EAT Unfair Dismissal: Reasonableness of Dismissal – Claim of unfair dismissal for conduct reason relating to misuse of Twitter.
Application of section 98(4) Employment Rights Act 1996 and the range of reasonable responses test, Iceland Frozen Foods Ltd v Jones [1982] IRLR 439.
Appeal on basis: (1) the Employment Judge had fallen into error of substitution mindset; and/or (2) had reached a conclusion that was perverse.
Appeal allowed: the Employment Judge had erred in substituting his view for that of the reasonable employer and/or had reached conclusions that were either inconsistent given earlier findings or failed to take into account relevant matters or were simply perverse. The EAT did not consider, however, that only one outcome was possible in this case and thus ordered that the matter should be remitted to a new ET for determination of the application of the range of reasonable responses test to the question of disciplinary sanction.
Declined to lay down fresh guidance for future unfair-dismissal cases involving alleged misuse of social media. Cases were likely to be fact-sensitive and the relevant test would continue to be that laid down in Iceland Frozen Foods.
Eady QC HH
[2014] UKEAT 0188 – 14 – 0311
Bailii
England and Wales
Employment
Updated: 24 December 2021; Ref: scu.540266
