EAT UNFAIR DISMISSAL – Reasonableness of dismissal
The Appellants, the social worker responsible for the care of Baby P and her team manager, were held not to have been unfairly dismissed by Haringey for their respective failures in dealing with this case. The Employment Tribunal did not err in concluding that the Respondent was not precluded from conducting second formal disciplinary proceedings against them when a different view was taken of the seriousness of their defaults than that of the previous senior management. It was thought that the previous record keeping and procedural charges against them which were dealt with using a Simplified Procedure, under which the maximum penalty was a written warning which they received, did not adequately reflect the seriousness of their failings. The previous proceedings were rightly taken into account in determining the fairness of the dismissals. R (Coke-Wallis) v Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales [2011] 2 AC 146 and Sarkar v West London Health NHS Trust [2010] IRLR 508 considered.
The ET did not misdirect themselves or come to a perverse conclusion in deciding that the delay between the events which formed the basis of the complaints against the Appellants and the second disciplinary proceedings did not cause them prejudice or render the dismissals unfair. A v B [2003] IRLR 405 and Slater v Leicestershire Health Authority [1989] IRLR 16 considered.
The ET did not err in law or come to perverse conclusions in dismissing the Appellants’ claims for unfair dismissal.
Judges:
Slade DBE J
Citations:
[2012] UKEAT 0298 – 11 – 2505
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Bolam v Friern Hospital Management Committee QBD 1957
Professional to use Skilled Persons Ordinary Care
Negligence was alleged against a doctor.
Held: McNair J directed the jury: ‘Where some special skill is exercised, the test for negligence is not the test of the man on the Clapham omnibus, because he has not got this special skill. The test . .
Cited – Johnson v Gore Wood and Co HL 14-Dec-2000
Shareholder May Sue for Additional Personal Losses
A company brought a claim of negligence against its solicitors, and, after that claim was settled, the company’s owner brought a separate claim in respect of the same subject-matter.
Held: It need not be an abuse of the court for a shareholder . .
Cited – Coke-Wallis, Regina (on The Application of) v Institute of Chartered Accountants In England and Wales SC 19-Jan-2011
The appellant chartered accountant had been convicted in Jersey after removing documents from his offices relating to a disputed trust and in breach of an order from his professional institute. The court now considered the relevance and application . .
Cited – Sarkar v West London Mental Health NHS Trust CA 19-Mar-2010
The doctor had been summarily dismissed for gross misconduct. He now appealed against the EAT’s reversal of the finding of unfair dismissal. The original procedure adopted was appropriate to a lesser level of misconduct, but the employer had later . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Employment
Updated: 31 October 2022; Ref: scu.459906