EAT Unfair Dismissal : Reason for Dismissal Including Substantial Other Reason – The Police reported to a school that an allegation had been made of historical sex abuse by the Claimant school caretaker (outside, and before, his employment). Though disbelieving, the Head suspended the Claimant whilst investigations continued. After about a year, the Head decided to recommend dismissal to the Governors, though nothing further had happened to support the allegation, the accuser’s mental state was being assessed, those witnesses whom the accuser had identified as supporting his claims in fact did not do so, and it was said that a decision as to whether to charge the Claimant or not would be made within the immediate future. The Governors dismissed, and on appeal that was upheld, on the basis that even if the Claimant were exonerated the fact of the allegation alone should have that result. Their principal concerns were the risk to children, and to the school reputation. An ET held that the dismissal was unfair, both substantively (the reason did not amount to some other substantial reason of a kind justifying dismissal) and procedurally, and awarded compensation. In assessing the award, it did not regard the Claimant as entitled to damages to the extent that post-dismissal depression had prevented him from obtaining work.
An appeal against the liability decision was rejected, since this was a factual assessment and was not perverse; none of the other grounds of appeal was made out.
The Claimant cross-appealed as to remedy, arguing that the Judge should have linked the depression to the dismissal. This too was rejected, since the Judge had been entitled to hold that the burden of proof (of showing that the dismissal caused or contributed to the depression) had not been satisfied.
Langstaff J P
[2013] UKEAT 0380 – 13 – 1211
Bailii
England and Wales
Employment
Updated: 28 November 2021; Ref: scu.520022