Unfair Dismissal: Reason for Dismissal Including Substantial Other Reason
Reasonableness of dismissal
A school teacher brought unsuccessful Tribunal claims of race discrimination and underpayment of salary against his school, in the course of which he made serious allegations. The school later investigated the allegations and found them unsubstantiated. It brought disciplinary proceedings on the basis that the allegations were (inter alia) vexatious, malicious and/or frivolous. The disciplinary charges were found to have been made out. The teacher was dismissed. His dismissal was upheld by an appeal panel.
The Employment Tribunal dismissed a claim for unfair dismissal on the basis that: a potentially fair reason for dismissal (conduct) had been made out; a fair and reasonable investigatory procedure had been adopted; and the sanction of dismissal had been within the range of reasonable responses.
Two points were pursued on appeal: (1) the Tribunal had failed to consider whether the school had reasonably believed that the allegations had been made in bad faith; and (2) the Tribunal had failed to address a contention that there had been unfair treatment because another teacher who had made similarly unfounded allegations had been treated differently.
HELD:
(1) The Tribunal had correctly found that the disciplinary charges had expressly included reference to the allegations having been ‘malicious, vexatious or frivolous’ and ‘in bad faith’. The evidence the school provided had satisfied the Tribunal that it had genuinely believed, on sound grounds, that the charges were made out. It had made no error.
(2) The Tribunal had not addressed the comparator point because it not had not been raised/pursued before it. If it had been, it was doomed to fail because the circumstances of the two cases were wholly different.
Luba QC Rec
[2015] UKEAT 0308 – 14 – 0806
Bailii
England and Wales
Employment, Discrimination
Updated: 30 December 2021; Ref: scu.547613