UNFAIR DISMISSAL; Reason for dismissal; band of reasonable responses; investigation. In a claim of unfair dismissal, the reason for dismissal relied upon by the employer in terms of section 98 of the Employment Rights Act, 1996 ‘(ERA’) was ‘conduct’. The evidence suggested that the employer had considered a range of matters all of which related … Continue reading Tesco Stores Ltd v S (Unfair Dismissal): EAT 1 Apr 2021
EAT Rights On InsolvencyTwo separate Employment Tribunals decided that Claimants who had been employed (without knowing it) by a company which had entered a CVA were entitled to claim arrears of pay and holiday pay from the National Insurance Fund when subsequently the company went into liquidation. In each case, the reasoning was flawed: the … Continue reading Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills v Mcdonagh and Others: EAT 14 Feb 2013
EAT Rights On Insolvency – Two separate Employment Tribunals decided that Claimants who had been employed (without knowing it) by a company which had entered a CVA were entitled to claim arrears of pay and holiday pay from the National Insurance Fund when subsequently the company went into liquidation. In each case, the reasoning was … Continue reading Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills v Pengelly and Another: EAT 14 Feb 2013
Employees notice of intention to return to work after maternity leave need not be given in writing. An ambiguous Act interpreted to purposively accord with European law under which made. Citations: Times 10-Jun-1998 Statutes: Employment Rights Act 1996 80(1) Jurisdiction: England and Wales Employment Updated: 09 December 2022; Ref: scu.82787
Employee to show company insolvent to claim EAT Insolvent Employer – The onus is on the applicant seeking payment for lost wages from the Secretary of state to establish that the employer company is insolvent. There must be proof of the occurring of an event falling within section 183(3) EAT Insolvency – (no sub-topic) Judges: … Continue reading The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry v Walden, Kealfreight Ltd: EAT 22 Jul 1999
UNFAIR DISMISSAL; remedy; compensation; perversity. The Employment Tribunal found that the appellant had been unfairly dismissed. It awarded compensation on the basis that, had the respondent correctly addressed its true reason for dismissing him, the appellant would have been fairly dismissed within six months because he had become unmanageable, and this had led to a … Continue reading Daly v BMI Healthcare Ltd (Unfair Dismissal): EAT 9 Apr 2021
An employer’s express right to transfer an employee may be qualified by the obligation of mutual trust and confidence. Citations: [1989] IRLR 507 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Cited by: Cited – Johnson v Unisys Ltd HL 23-Mar-2001 The claimant contended for a common law remedy covering the same ground as the statutory right available to … Continue reading United Bank Ltd v Akhtar: 1989
Unfair Dismissal The Respondent appealed the Tribunal’s decision that the Claimant had been unfairly dismissed. The Tribunal had concluded that having regard to s. 98 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 the Respondents decision to dismiss fell outside the band of reasonable responses. On Appeal the Respondent argued that the Tribunal had fallen into a … Continue reading Northbay Pelagic Ltd v Anderson (Unfair Dismissal): EAT 28 Jan 2021
There is no rule of law, to suggest that a sole director and owner of majority of shareholding, could not be an employee of that company, and be entitled to a redundancy payment on the liquidation of the company. ‘If the tribunal considers that the contract is not a sham, it is likely to wish … Continue reading Secretary of State for Trade and Industry v Bottrill: CA 12 Feb 1999
The Claimant was dismissed on 29 March 2019. He maintained that the dismissal was unfair and contacted ACAS on 25 June 2019. ACAS informed him on 2 August 2019 that his employer did not wish to continue with the conciliation process and a certificate was emailed to him that day. The email was not received … Continue reading Stratford On Avon District Council v Hughes (Jurisdictional /Time Points): EAT 17 Dec 2020
The claimant had been dismissed. He said the manner of his dismissal had caused him to suffer a mental breakdown, and claimed for loss of earnings. He asserted a duty on an employer not to dismiss him in such a way as to infringe the duty of trust and confidence. He succeeded in a claim … Continue reading Johnson v Unisys Limited: CA 4 Dec 1998
The Employment Tribunal found that the Claimant made protected disclosures in respect of the introduction of a new rota system, which he reasonably believed posed a danger to the health and safety of patients, and to be made in the public interest. Subsequent to this, concerns raised by colleagues about his alleged conduct were referred … Continue reading Chatterjee v Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust (Victimisation Discrimination – Protected Disclosure): EAT 23 Sep 2019
The Claimant was dismissed by the Appellant immediately prior to a TUPE transfer from the Appellant to a third party. He brought a claim for unfair dismissal against the Appellant alone in which he claimed that his dismissal was unfair in terms of Regulation 7(1) of TUPE. The Appellant conceded that the dismissal of the … Continue reading Greater Glasgow Health Board v Neilson (Transfer of Undertakings; Dismissal; Remedies; Re-Engagement): EAT 16 Feb 2021
Unfair dismissal – automatically unfair dismissal – section 100 Employment Rights Act 1996 The Claimant was a bus operator, operating out of the Putney bus garage, who claimed he had suffered detriment and automatic unfair dismissal on health and safety grounds under Sections 44 and 100 Employment Rights Act 1996 (‘the ERA’). These claims were … Continue reading Castano v London General Transport Services Ltd (Victimisation Detriment Health and Safety): EAT 29 Oct 2019
EAT Four employees successfully established before the Employment Tribunal that they had been unfairly dismissed for redundancy. The Tribunal found that there had been procedural defects. In particular the assessments in the redundancy exercise had been inadequate and subjective. The Tribunal considered whether the dismissals were fair under section 98A(2) of the Employment Rights Act … Continue reading Software 2000 Ltd v Andrews etc: EAT 17 Jan 2007
Sex Discrimination The Employment Judge erred in law in holding that all that is necessary for a person to be an employee in the extended sense for the purposes of section 83(2) Equality Act 2010 is that the person should have entered into a contract under which she or he agrees to do work personally. … Continue reading Alemi v Mitchell and Another (Sex Discrimination): EAT 8 Jan 2021
This appeal is primarily concerned with the scope of the rights conferred on agency workers by and the Agency Workers’ Regulations 2010 (‘the AWR’), which implements the Agency Workers Directive (‘the Directive’) into domestic law. The EAT found that: (1) The right conferred by regulation 13(1) of the AWR (derived from Article 6.1 of the … Continue reading Angard Staffing Solutions Ltd and Another v Kocur and Another (Agency Workers and Contract of Employment): EAT 11 Dec 2020
Lord Johnston considered the approach to be taken under section 98A: ‘In seeking to resolve this matter, it is necessary to make two observations of a general nature. In the first place, when an industrial tribunal is addressing the question in the context of remedy, against a background of procedural unfairness, whether a fair procedure … Continue reading Fisher v California Cake and Cookie Co: 1997
Ex turpi causa non oritur actio A claim was made for the price of goods which the plaintiff sold to the defendant in Dunkirk, knowing that the defendant’s purpose was to smuggle the goods into England. The plaintiff was met with a defence of illegality. Held: The defence failed. Knowledge on the part of the … Continue reading Holman v Johnson: 5 Jul 1775
The deceased’s adult son sought provision from the intestate estate. The sole beneficiary under the rules was the plaintiff’s mother. The estate was modest; the intestate’s interest in his house (he had been living there with the plaintiff). The widow was found to have a one third interest in it. The judge took the disposable … Continue reading In Re Coventry (deceased): CA 3 Jan 1979
CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT – Damages for breach of contract UNFAIR DISMISSAL – Constructive dismissal UNFAIR DISMISSAL – Compensation UNFAIR DISMISSAL – Contributory fault UNFAIR DISMISSAL – Polkey deduction The Appellant contended that the Employment Judge made a perverse finding regarding the Appellant’s conduct prior to dismissal (but which the Respondent only discovered after dismissal). The … Continue reading Mansfield Vtaran Microsystems Ltd (Contract of Employment – Damages for Breach of Contract : Unfair Dismissal): EAT 14 Sep 2018
The transfer of an undertaking involved a series of acts which need not occur at the same time and the time of such transfer must be construed flexibly to reflect the period of time over which the transfer actually occurs. Citations: Times 10-Sep-1998, Gazette 30-Sep-1998, [1998] EWCA Civ 1294, [1998] IRLR 577, [1998] 4 All … Continue reading Clark Tokeley Ltd (T/a Spell Brook Ltd) v Oakes and others: CA 27 Jul 1998
UNFAIR DISMISSAL WHISTLEBLOWING, PROTECTED DISCLOSURES CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT The employment tribunal found that the Claimant had been unfairly dismissed, contrary to section 94 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (‘the ERA’), and wrongfully dismissed, but had not been automatically unfairly dismissed, contrary to section 103A of the ERA. On the Respondent employer’s appeal from the … Continue reading University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust v Reuser (Unfair Dismissal – Whistleblowing, Protected Disclosures): EAT 1 May 2020
The claimant had been unfairly dismissed but in addition to this employment she had also lost her earnings from a private practice as an aerobics teacher at the same facility where she was employed. She had been awarded damages for the employment loss, but not the rest. Held: The court did not state as a … Continue reading Jones v Lingfield Leisure Plc: CA 18 Jun 1998
When a one year fixed term employment contract was extended by a period of less than a year, but then not again renewed, there was no unfair dismissal, since the exemption for the original term applied also to any extension. There had been conflicting interpretations of the statutory provisions. S197 could not be construed on … Continue reading British Broadcasting Corporation v Kelly-Phillips: CA 24 Apr 1998
The employees, registered market porters, appealed against reversal of the Tribunal’s judgment that the employer had made unlawful deductions from their wages. The deductions purported to have been authorised under collective agreements from the 1970s. The employers dedcuted porterage charges from the stall holders, and distributed the charge among all the porters, saying that the … Continue reading Hay and Others v Gilgrove Ltd and Others: CA 26 Apr 2013
EAT CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT – Damages for breach of contract The Tribunal awarded to the unfairly dismissed Claimant compensation for failure to pay any money to her during a 4 week notice period. The award was made under sections 86 to 88 of the ERA 1996. However the statutory minimum period of notice under section … Continue reading Milson v Hope: EAT 7 Mar 2013
EAT JURISDICTIONAL POINTS – Working outside the jurisdiction WORKING TIME REGULATIONS – Holiday pay The approach to determining whether an employee of British company who works and lives abroad falls within the territorial scope of the Employment Rights Act 1996 section 94(1) has been developed since Lawson v Serco Ltd [2006] ICR 250. The question … Continue reading Dhunna v Creditsights Ltd: EAT 3 Apr 2013
EAT JURISDICTIONAL POINTS – Extension of time: reasonably practicableWhere a Claimant has retained a solicitor to act for him and failed to meet the deadline for presenting a complaint of unfair dismissal to an Employment Tribunal, the adviser’s fault will defeat any attempt to argue that it was not reasonably practicable to make a timely … Continue reading El-Kholy v Rentokil Initial Facilities Services (UK) Ltd: EAT 21 Mar 2013
EAT Trade Union Rights : Interim Relief The Claimant’s claim was brought for unfair dismissal contrary to s152(1)(b) TULR(C)A 1992 (trade union activity) and Schedule A1 para 161(2)(a) (acting to secure union recognition). An application for interim relief under s161 TULR(C)A 1992 and s128 ERA 1996 was supported by requisite certificates by TU officials.Relief granted … Continue reading London City Airport Ltd v Chacko: EAT 22 Mar 2013
The claimant school teacher had been dismissed, after a finding that she had assaulted a pupil. She denied the assualt. Held: The School’s appeal against the decision of the EAT to re-instate the claim of unfair dismissal succeeded. The EAT had wrongly substituted its won veiw of the facts for that of the Tribunal. However … Continue reading Clarence High School and Another v Boardman: CA 15 Mar 2013
EAT UNLAWFUL DEDUCTION FROM WAGES – Industrial actionFirefighter objects to being asked to ‘act up’ as watch manager but continues to do so under protest – Eventually refuses to do so in the context of official industrial action being taken by colleagues, where refusal to act up forms part of the action called by the … Continue reading Norris and Others v London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority: EAT 8 Mar 2013
EAT VICTIMISATION DISCRIMINATION – Protected disclosureWhether Claimant may rely on post-termination protected disclosure in ‘whistleblowing’ claim under s.47B Employment Rights Act 1996. He can. Appeal allowed against Employment Tribunal Judgment to the contrary. Judges: Peter Clark J Citations: [2013] UKEAT 0407 – 12 – 2501 Links: Bailii Statutes: Employment Rights Act 1996 47B Jurisdiction: England … Continue reading Onyango v Berkeley (T/A Berkeley Solicitors): EAT 25 Jan 2013
Women had taken extended maternity leave, but having followed the procedures, had been unable for illness to return to work on the day they had notified. The employer then asserted that the claimants had resigned. The EAT had confirm that they had not been unfairly dismissed. Held: The legislation provided ‘special protection for the security … Continue reading Kwik Save Stores Limited v Greaves; Crees v Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Limited: CA 20 Jan 1998
No sex discrimination was involved in company’s retirement benefits scheme even though it was affected by differences for part time workers, and even though more women worked part time Citations: Gazette 26-Feb-1998, Times 29-Dec-1997, [1998] 1 All ER 805, [1997] EWCA Civ 3037, [1999] ICR 319, [1998] IRLR 138 Links: Bailii Statutes: Equal Pay Act … Continue reading Barry v Midland Bank Plc: CA 18 Dec 1997
The Appellant has presented a claim in the Employment Tribunal in which she alleges that she was dismissed by the Respondent and that the dismissal amounted to sex discrimination and/or victimisation on the ground that she had done a protected act, contrary to the Equality Act 2010. She appeals against the Employment Tribunal’s refusal to … Continue reading Steer v Stormsure Ltd (Sex Discrimination, Human Rights): EAT 21 Dec 2020
EAT REDUNDANCY PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – Bias, misconduct and procedural irregularity The Claimant worked as an Accountant in the Respondent’s Children and Families Directorate. The Employment Tribunal was correct to find that a redundancy situation was created when the Respondent reorganised the Directorate and introduced requirement for skills the Claimant was not considered to have. … Continue reading Barot v London Borough of Brent: EAT 17 Jan 2013
The appellant had been employed by the Police as a fingerprint officer. She was unfairly dismissed after a wrongful accusation. The tribunal ordered that she be reinstated, but on terms which would not result in her attending court as an expert witness. The EAT had concluded that the Tribunal’s decision to order reinstatement was perverse, … Continue reading McBride v Employment Appeal Tribunal: SCS 25 Jan 2013
The claimant succeeded in her claim for unfair dismissal, but now appealed against the reversal of the decision by the EAT. She had been dismissed for incapability to which she had contributed by her conduct. She had refused a move to another bank of the branch which would upset her child care arrangements. She was … Continue reading McAdie v Royal Bank of Scotland: CA 31 Jul 2007
EAT Maternity Rights and Parental Leave Sex discriminationUnfair dismissal The Tribunal erred in concluding there was a discriminatory dismissal on the grounds that the Claimant had taken maternity leave, contrary to section 3A of the SDA, section 99 of the 1996 Act and paragraph 20 of MAPLE, when in the light of the Tribunal’s own … Continue reading SG Petch Ltd v English-Stewart: EAT 31 Oct 2012
The bank claimed that it had been defrauded, and that since an employee of the defendant had taken part in the fraud the defendant was had vicarious liability for his participation even though they knew nothing of it. Held: Where A becomes liable to B as a joint tortfeasor with C in the tort of … Continue reading Generale Bank Nederland Nv (Formerly Credit Lyonnais Bank Nederland Nv) v Export Credit Guarantee Department: CA 23 Jul 1997
Practice and Procedure The claim form which alleged unfair dismissal contained an indication of a claim of unfair dismissal pursuant to section 103A Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA). The strike out was made on the basis that the Appellant had insufficient continuity of employment to pursue an unfair dismissal claim. This was correct in respect … Continue reading Stubbs v Grafters Ltd: EAT 31 May 2022
EAT UNLAWFUL DEDUCTION FROM WAGES At the hearing of the Claimant’s claim of unauthorised deductions, taken from his payments when he was made redundant in order to repay his car loan, the Employment Tribunal raised with the employer’s counsel the provisions of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. It then ruled upon it without giving counsel … Continue reading Guildprime Specialists Contractors Ltd v Knight: EAT 24 Sep 2012
EAT UNLAWFUL DEDUCTION FROM WAGESThe Claimants claimed that the Respondent had wrongly evaluated their jobs under the applicable job evaluation scheme. They contended that properly evaluated they would have been awarded higher scores entitling them to a higher Grade, (Grade 7 or 8). They brought claims for deduction from wages under the Employment Rights Act … Continue reading Kingston Upon Hull City Council v Schofield and Others: EAT 6 Nov 2012
EAT PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – Time for appealingJURISDICTIONAL POINTS – Excluded employmentsThe Claimant, a former soldier, resigned and claimed constructive unfair dismissal and breach of contract in the Employment Tribunal. It declined jurisdiction: Employment Rights Act 1996 ss191-2 disapply the Act to the armed forces. The Claimant received clear legal advice to that effect but … Continue reading Booley v British Army Mod: EAT 19 Jul 2012
EAT VICTIMISATION DISCRIMINATION – Protected disclosureTribunal entitled to decide on the facts that the employee’s belief that his disclosure tended to show matters of the kind specified under section 43B (1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 was not reasonable. Judges: Underhill P J Citations: [2010] UKEAT 0167 – 10 – 2406 Links: Bailii Statutes: … Continue reading Easwaran v St George’s University of London: EAT 24 Jun 2010
Casual workers employed under ‘nil hours’ relationship still had a contract of employment and the appropriate and associated rights. A court was fully able to determine the terms of the contract. Citations: Times 02-Apr-1998, Gazette 13-May-1998, [1997] EWCA Civ 871, [1999] ICR 1226, [1998] EWCA Civ 558, [2000] IRLR 43 Statutes: Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act … Continue reading Carmichael and Lesse v National Power Plc: CA 29 Jan 1997
EAT CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENTWhether establishedImplied term/variation/construction of termThe Employment Tribunal erred in holding that the agreement reached between the Respondent and Trade Unions for the third year of a three year pay deal was not legally enforceable because it gave the employer two options for the pay increase to be awarded with no agreement as … Continue reading Anderson and Others v London Fire Emergency Planning Authority: EAT 19 Jul 2012
The acquired rights directive applies to a board of governors of a school since it is an ’emanation of state’. LMA This was a claim by teachers who had lost their jobs. They claimed the protection of te hDirective. Held: The governing body of the voluntary aided school was an emanation of the State. The … Continue reading National Union of Teachers and others v Governing Body of St Mary’s Church of England (Aided) Junior School and others: CA 12 Dec 1996
VICTIMISATION DISCRIMINATION – Whistleblowing PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – Perversity The Claimant was a worker employed by the Respondent on a temporary assignment. On 14 March 2017, the Respondent terminated the assignment with immediate effect. There had been a meeting the previous day between the Claimant and one of the Respondent’s managers. The Claimant had made … Continue reading Riley v Belmont Green Finance Ltd (T/A Vida Homeloans) (Victimisation Discrimination- Whistleblowing- Perversity): EAT 13 Mar 2020
EAT UNFAIR DISMISSAL Employment Rights Act 1996, section 98(4) Fairness of dismissal Before the Employment Tribunal it was agreed that the Claimant was dismissed for the potentially fair reason of redundancy. It was disputed that the test of fairness was satisfied. The Claimant alleged that he was the highest scoring applicant for a new post, … Continue reading Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust v Steel: EAT 17 May 2012
The employee had patented in the US a trading system he invented whilst employed by the defendant, who now sought ownership. He appealed a finding that the inventions had been made during the normal course of his employment. The employment contract provided: ‘All trade secrets, inventions, written documents, and other confidential information developed or created … Continue reading Liffe Administration and Management v Pinkava and Another: CA 15 Mar 2007
The claimant had been chief executive and a director of the respondent for many years, but was dismissed upon it being taken over. His contract of employment as chief executive provided that it was to be coterminous with his appointment as director. Held: The tribunal were not wrong in law in identifying the reason and … Continue reading Kenneth Cobley v Forward Technology Industries Plc: CA 14 May 2003
EAT JURISDICTIONAL POINTS – Claim in time and effective date of termination The Claimants were summarily dismissed with immediate effect on 5 October 2010. They appealed; and while their appeals were otherwise unsuccessful they were told that the date of termination of their employment would be the date of the appeal (4 November); and they … Continue reading Hawes and Curtis Ltd v Arfan and Another: EAT 1 Jun 2012
EAT UNFAIR DISMISSALThe Appellant authority suspended the Claimant after receiving information from the police that he had been involved in dishonesty which had serious financial and reputational consequences for them. There was no contractual right to suspend without pay. The Claimant was not in custody but was available for work. The Employment Tribunal upheld his … Continue reading Kent County Council v Knowles: EAT 9 Mar 2012
A Union’s immunity from action was not lost where employees who had joined the company after the strike ballot had been completed, were encouraged by the union to join in the strike. The constituency defined in section 227(1) must include all members whom it is reasonable for the union to believe will be induced to … Continue reading London Underground Ltd v National Union of Railwaymen, Maritime and Transport Workers (NURMT): CA 9 Oct 1995
The employee at the time of her dismissal was expressly debarred by statute from bringing her complaint of unfair dismissal because she was a part-time employee. It was only many years later the statute was held to impugn EU law and had done so retrospectively. Held: Despite the fact that the Claimant could not have … Continue reading Biggs v Somerset County Council: CA 29 Jan 1996
An Anglican clergyman is an employee of the church, and so has employment rights. Citations: Independent 16-Mar-1995, Times 04-Apr-1996 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Cited by: Appeal from – Diocese of Southwark and Others v Coker EAT 4-Apr-1996 A curate is not an employee of the Church and cannot claim unfair dismissal. . .At the Employment … Continue reading Coker v Diocese of Southwark: ET 16 Mar 1995
The claimant appealed the refusal of her claim for a finding that her dismissal was automatically unfair. She had been employed for less than a year, and had taken several absences to care for her child. She claimed protection saying that her absences had been ‘dependants leave’. Held: When considering such a claim, the tribunal … Continue reading Qua v John Ford Morrison (Solicitors): EAT 14 Jan 2003
The applicant had been born and registered as a female, but later came to receive treatment and to live as a male. He complained that the respondent had failed to amend his birth certificate. Held: The court accepted that, by failing to confer on a transsexual a right to an amended birth certificate, the state … Continue reading Rees v The United Kingdom: ECHR 17 Oct 1986
The employee was a transsexual, awaiting completion of surgical transformation to a woman. The employer said she could not use the female toilet facilities, but was offered use of the unisex disabled facilities. Held: The 1975 Act provides for a category of persons who are not to be discriminated against. By virtue of the definition … Continue reading Croft v Royal Mail Group Plc (formerly Consignia Group plc): CA 18 Jul 2003
A Church of England Assistant Curate is not an employee, but rather a holder of an ecclesiastical office. There is a presumption that ministers of religion were office-holders who did not serve under a contract of employment. Accordingly he is not entitled to claim to have been unfairly dismissed under the legislation. Mummery LJ said: … Continue reading Reverend Doctor A B Coker v Diocese of Southwark; Bishop of Southwark and Diocesan Board of Finance: CA 11 Jul 1997
Practice and Procedure – Striking Out of Claims PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – Imposition of Deposit PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – Amendment of Notice of Appeal 1. The Employment Tribunal was correct to refuse to strike out the claim of unfair dismissal under s.104 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. It was entitled to make a deposit … Continue reading Adams v Kingdom Services Group Ltd: EAT 11 Dec 2019
Jurisdictional Points – Worker, Employee or Neither The employment tribunal had properly found that the claimant was a ‘worker’ but not an ’employee’ within section 230 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. There was no error of law or wrong approach to that issue. The tribunal had erred in deciding that the claimant was not … Continue reading Augustine v Econnect Cars Ltd: EAT 20 Dec 2019
Practice and Procedure – Postponement or Stay – Transfer/Hearing Together An employment judge had erred in law in deciding that he lacked jurisdiction to determine a claim under the Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010 (the 2010 Act) arising between the claimant and the insurer of the insolvent first respondent. The employment tribunal was … Continue reading Watson v Hemingway Design Ltd and Others: EAT 16 Dec 2019
Victimisation Discrimination – Protected Disclosure – Interim Relief UNFAIR DISMISSAL The Claimant applied for interim relief pursuant to s.128 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 following the termination of his contract allegedly because he had made protected disclosures. The Respondent contended that there was no entitlement to make such an application as the Claimant was … Continue reading Hancock v Ter-Berg and Another: EAT 25 Jul 2019
Damages or removal of coal under land User damages were awarded for the unauthorised removal of coal from beneath the appellant’s land, even though the site was too small for the appellant to have mined the coal himself. The appellant was also awarded damages for the damage done to the houses on the surface. If … Continue reading Livingstone v Rawyards Coal Co: HL 13 Feb 1880
The court considered the liability of insurers of companies now wound up for mesothelioma injuries suffered by former employees of those companies, and in particular whether the 1930 Act could be used to impose liability. The insurers now appealed against findings that some policies, those which insured against injury ‘sustained’ during the policy period, as … Continue reading Employers’ Liability Insurance ‘Trigger’ Litigation: BAI (Run Off) Ltd v Durham and Others: SC 28 Mar 2012
EAT UNFAIR DISMISSAL Contributory fault Polkey deduction Employee dismissed following disciplinary proceedings for: (1) misconduct towards other staff; (2) misconduct in attitude to directors; and (3) disclosure of information from staff payroll (3 instances). Employment Tribunal reject claims of wrongful and unfair dismissal but find dismissal ‘automatically unfair’ because one instance of disclosure was a … Continue reading Kaltz Ltd v Hamer: EAT 24 Feb 2012
EAT Redundancy : Suitable Alternative Employment – Did the Employment Tribunal err in law in concluding that the Appellant had unreasonably refused an offer of alternative employment for her own reasons, when it had correctly concluded that the offer was an offer of suitable employment which a reasonable employee could have accepted? Judges: Wilkie J … Continue reading Readman v Devon Primary Care Trust: EAT 1 Dec 2011
EAT Contract of Employment : Whether Established – SEX DISCRIMINATION – Jurisdiction – Unfair dismissal. Sponsorship of former mechanical engineering apprentice (Claimant) for university degree under a ‘University Sponsorship’ contract. Claimant withdrew from degree course and sponsor gave him the option of either resuming it or accepting an internship, both of which he declined. Sponsor … Continue reading GE Caledonian Ltd v McCandliss: EAT 22 Nov 2011
EAT UNFAIR DISMISSALSEX DISCRIMINATION – ComparisonUnfair dismissal – misconduct. Claimant assaulted girlfriend (also RBS employee) in circumstances where he alleged he had been provoked by her having slapped him. Sex discrimination. Circumstances in which Employment Tribunal were held to have erred in requiring misconduct, for the purposes of s.98(2) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, … Continue reading Royal Bank of Scotland v Donaghay: EAT 11 Nov 2011
The claimant had been an ordained minister in the church. She sought to claim unfair dismissal. The Conference replied that she was not an employee entitled to make such a claim. Held: The claimant was an employee. Judges: Maurice Kay VP, Longmore LJJ, Sir David Keene Citations: [2011] EWCA Civ 1581, [2012] 2 WLR 1119, … Continue reading The President of The Methodist Conference v Preston: CA 20 Dec 2011
EAT NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE ACT 1998National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999, Reg. 2(2)Unauthorised deductions from wagesAll three Claimants were foreign domestic workers employed in the Respondents’ households. The EAT held that the work done by each of the three Claimants for their respective employers was work to which regulation 2(2) of the National Minimum Wage Regulations … Continue reading Julio v Jose: EAT 8 Dec 2011
EAT NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE ACT 1998National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999, Reg. 2(2)Unauthorised deductions from wagesAll three Claimants were foreign domestic workers employed in the Respondents’ households. The EAT held that the work done by each of the three Claimants for their respective employers was work to which regulation 2(2) of the National Minimum Wage Regulations … Continue reading Jose v Julio: EAT 8 Dec 2011
EAT NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE ACT 1998 National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999, Reg. 2(2) Unauthorised deductions from wages All three Claimants were foreign domestic workers employed in the Respondents’ households. The EAT held that the work done by each of the three Claimants for their respective employers was work to which regulation 2(2) of the National … Continue reading Chamsi-Pasha and Another v Udin and Another: EAT 8 Dec 2011
EAT NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE ACT 1998 National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999, Reg. 2(2)Unauthorised deductions from wages All three Claimants were foreign domestic workers employed in the Respondents’ households. The EAT held that the work done by each of the three Claimants for their respective employers was work to which regulation 2(2) of the National Minimum … Continue reading Udin v Chamsi-Pasha and Others: EAT 8 Dec 2011
The appellant’s application for full registration as a qualified medical practitioner had been refused by the GMC after a five-year maximum period of limited registration. His application for full registration in accordance with section 25 of the Medical Act 1983 was refused by the GMC. He then applied to the Review Board for Overseas Qualified … Continue reading Khan v General Medical Council: CA 11 Apr 1994
Transfer of Undertakings; Share Incentive Plan; Obligation ‘In Connection With’ The Contract of Employment The claimant’s contract of employment transferred to the appellant under TUPE, 2006 on 1 May 2020. Prior to the transfer, he had been a member of a Share Incentive Plan operated by the transferor which he had joined in August 2018 … Continue reading Ponticelli UK Ltd v Gallagher: EAT 12 Sep 2022
EAT Unfair Dismissal : Constructive Dismissal Compensation Employment Tribunal entitled to conclude, on the facts, that Respondent was in breach of implied term of trust and confidence. Claimant resigned in response. She was constructively dismissed. S.124(1) Employment Rights Act 1996. The Employment Tribunal was wrong to make a compensatory award to Claimant in excess of … Continue reading Hardie Grant London Ltd v Aspden: EAT 3 Nov 2011
EAT VICTIMISATION DISCRIMINATIONWhistleblowingProtected disclosureThe Employment Tribunal clearly found the Claimant was dismissed fairly by reason of redundancy. That finding meant that the claim that he was dismissed for whistleblowing failed. There was no error of law.It is reasonably arguable that the claim of per-employment detriments which failed as a matter of construction of Employment Rights … Continue reading Hinton v Argos Ltd: EAT 7 Oct 2011
EAT (Practice and Procedure : Striking-Out or Dismissal) The Employment Judge ought not to have struck out the Claimant’s claim for unfair dismissal under section 103A of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Ezsias v North Glamorgan NHS Trust [2007] ICR 1126 applied. Judges: Richardson J Citations: [2011] UKEAT 0182 – 11 – 0909 Links: Bailii … Continue reading Pillay v Inc Research UK Ltd: EAT 9 Sep 2011
EAT VICTIMISATION DISCRIMINATION – Protected disclosureUNFAIR DISMISSAL – Automatically unfair reasonsThe Tribunal erred in law in holding that words spoken at a meeting by the Claimant did not amount to information for the purposes of section 43B of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Cavendish Munro Professional Risks Management v Geduld [2010] ICR 125 applied.The Tribunal … Continue reading Freeman v Ultra Green Group Ltd: EAT 9 Aug 2011
The claimant had taken maternity leave under which she had been entitled to return up to five years later. The Council transferred its workforce to Capita, and she now said that the Council and Capita had failed to comply with the contractual and statutory obligations. Citations: [2001] UKEAT 1060 – 00 – 0103 Links: Bailii … Continue reading Rhoden-Burke v Lambeth and Another: EAT 1 Mar 2001
This appeal concerns the directly effective right of police officers under EU law to have the principle of equal treatment applied to them. The question raised is whether the enforcement of that right by means of proceedings in the Employment Tribunal is barred by the principle of judicial immunity, where the allegedly discriminatory conduct is … Continue reading P v Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis: SC 25 Oct 2017
EAT JURISDICTIONAL POINTS – Claim in time and effective date of terminationClaimant given notice of dismissal subject to a right of appeal and on the basis that the employment would not terminate if she lodged an appeal by a prescribed deadline, which she was treated as having done – Claimant presents claim in advance of … Continue reading The Governing Body of Wishmorecross School v Balado: EAT 12 Jul 2011
EAT UNFAIR DISMISSAL – CompensationPRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – Appellate jurisdiction/reasons/Burns-Barkebr />The successful Claimant worked in the NHS from 1983 but for the Respondent Trust only from 2006. The dispute about this was raised in submissions on the basic award. The Employment Tribunal calculated back to 1983. The EAT allowed the jurisdictional point about Employment Rights … Continue reading Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust v Walker: EAT 24 Jun 2011
EAT RIGHTS ON INSOLVENCYThe Employment Judge erred in law in making an award of notice pay under section 182 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 when the employer company was not insolvent as defined in section 183(1) and (3). Secretary of State for Trade and Industry v Walden [2000] IRLR 168 applied. Judges: Richardson j … Continue reading The Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills v Coward and Another: EAT 21 Jul 2011
mchoice_aaldersEAT2011 EAT JURISDICTIONAL POINTS – Claim in time and effective date of terminationThe employee was dismissed on notice expiring on 1 February 2011. On its expiry she would have had sufficient qualifying service to present a complaint of unfair dismissal. On 11 January 2011 during her period of notice she presented a complaint of unfair … Continue reading M-Choice UK Ltd v Aalders: EAT 10 Aug 2011
EAT UNLAWFUL DEDUCTION FROM WAGESThe Claimants made claims against their employer for an unlawful deduction from their wages contrary to the provisions of section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, in respect of money due under its bonus scheme for the years 2009 and 2010. The Claimants had been dismissed by reason of gross … Continue reading Hellewell and Another v Axa Services Ltd and Another: EAT 25 Jul 2011
EAT UNFAIR DISMISSAL – Reasonableness of dismissalVICTIMISATION DISCRIMINATION – Protected disclosureThe ET erred in holding that the Appellant lecturer was fairly dismissed for misconduct in refusing to undertake duties which the Respondent required her to undertake. The ET failed to consider whether the employer had conducted a proper investigation into the agreement reached as to … Continue reading Smith v London Metropolitan University: EAT 21 Jul 2011
Appeal at the instance of the employee applicant in respect of a finding by the Employment Tribunal confirmed on review that in the relevant circumstances the respondent employer was not in breach of section 1(1) of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 nor had they made any unlawful deductions from the applicant’s wages in contravention … Continue reading Laird v A K Stoddart Ltd: EAT 18 Jan 2001
EAT UNFAIR DISMISSAL – Retirement UNFAIR DISMISSAL – Polkey deduction Employee reaching retirement age requests extension – Employer purports to follow procedure under Schedule 6 of Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 and rejects request – Tribunal holds, on basis of admissions from employer’s witnesses, that the managers in question regarded themselves as absolutely bound by … Continue reading Compass Group Plc v Ayodele: EAT 14 Jul 2011
EAT Contract of Employment – Definition of Employee Judges: The Honourable Mr Justice Burton (P) Citations: EAT/492/02, [2002] UKEAT 492 – 02 – 1112 Links: Bailii, EAT Statutes: Employment Rights Act 1996 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Citing: Cited – McMeechan v Secretary of State for Employment CA 11-Dec-1996 The respondent as a temporary worker was … Continue reading Dacas v Brook Street Bureau (UK) Ltd, Wandsworth London Borough Council: EAT 12 Nov 2002
VICTIMISATION DICRIMINATION – Protected disclosure The Claimant alleged in her Particulars of Claim that the Respondent subjected her to a detriment because she had alleged in an email of 1 December 2015 that asking her to work certain hours would be a breach of the Working Time Regulations 1998. A list of issues agreed at … Continue reading Saha v Capita Plc: EAT 29 Nov 2018
The claimant alleged that she had been discrimated against in her work for the appellant, a member of the diplomatic staff at the Saudi Embassy in London. She now appealed against a decision that the respondent had diplomatic immunity. Held: The appeal was allowed: ‘the question whether the exception in article 31(1)(c) would have applied … Continue reading Reyes v Al-Malki and Another: SC 18 Oct 2017
EAT VICTIMISATION DISCRIMINATION – Protected disclosureThe issue was whether a complaint under section 47B of the Employment Rights Act 1996 had been presented in time. The employment judge ruled that that issue should be decided when the Claimant’s other claims were considered on their merits, because evidence was required to decide whether the various detriments … Continue reading St John Ambulance v Mulvie: EAT 1 Jul 2011
EAT JURISDICTIONAL POINTS Worker, employee or neither Agency relationships The Claimants were not employees of Respondent 4, on its insolvency the Secretary of State had no liability to them under s.182-188 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Judges: Serota QC J Citations: [2011] UKEAT 0571 – 10 – 1705 Links: Bailii Statutes: Employment Rights Act … Continue reading The Secretary of State for Business Innovations and Skills v Studders and Others: EAT 17 May 2011
EAT UNFAIR DISMISSAL – Automatically unfair reasonsUnfair dismissal – automatically unfair reasons – health and safety cases.Section 100(1)(e) should be applied in two stages. Firstly, the Tribunal should consider whether the criteria set out in that provision have been met, as a matter of fact. Were there circumstances of danger which the employee reasonably believed … Continue reading Oudahar v Esporta Group Ltd (Unfair Dismissal : Automatically Unfair Reasons): EAT 22 Jun 2011
EAT UNFAIR DISMISSAL – Reasonableness of dismissalThe Employment Tribunal’s reasons show that the majority did not correctly apply section 98(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996. London Ambulance Service NHS Trust v Small [2009] IRLR 563 and Fuller v London Borough of Brent [2011] EWCA Civ 267 considered. Judges: Richardson J Citations: [2011] UKEAT 0007 … Continue reading Eaga Plc v Tideswell: EAT 16 May 2011