EAT Contract of Employment: Wrongful Dismissal – An Employment Judge dismissed a claim for unfair dismissal, where the employer thought the Claimant had stolen money from it. He said that if he had had to determine contributory fault he would have found it to be 100%, since he thought on balance she had done what was alleged. He thereby found as a fact that she had stolen from her employer. Nonetheless, he thought the employer was not entitled to dismiss her summarily, and upheld her claim for damages in respect of the pay she would have received during the notice period. He wrongly looked for a term of the contract under which the employer was entitled to dismiss her, rather than applying well established principles of contract law. When the employer sought a reconsideration this was refused on the basis that the employer had in any event affirmed the contract by holding a disciplinary hearing (even though the disciplinary procedure was expressly non-contractual). In reaching his conclusion, the Judge also failed to record the terms of the disciplinary policy faithfully, and wrongly considered that it had not been put to him that by virtue of straightforward contractual principles the employer was entitled to dismiss the Claimant without notice. His decision was totally flawed, and the appeal against it was upheld.
Langstaff P J
[2015] UKEAT 0049 – 15 – 1607
Bailii
England and Wales
Employment
Updated: 04 January 2022; Ref: scu.552830