Unfair Dismissal – Reasonableness of Dismissal – Unfair dismissal – reasonableness of the dismissal – section 98(4) Employment Rights Act 1996
The Claimant was dismissed, on notice, for a reason relating to his conduct; initially this was found to amount to gross misconduct but, on his internal appeal, the Respondent accepted it was more properly to be categorised as serious misconduct. The ET found the Claimant’s dismissal for this reason was unfair: it had been unreasonable to characterise his conduct as gross misconduct at the original dismissal decision and once it was recognised it was something less – serious misconduct – that meant a warning was the only reasonable response, dismissal was not. The Respondent appealed.
Held: allowing the appeal.
The ET had unduly restricted its assessment of the fairness of the dismissal for the purposes of section 98(4) ERA by assuming as a general rule that a finding of conduct short of gross misconduct meant dismissal for a first offence was necessarily unfair; section 98(4) made no such prescription and the ET had failed to demonstrate it had correctly approached the question of fairness, alternatively, it had impermissibly substituted its view as to the appropriate sanction for that of the reasonable employer in the particular circumstances of the case.
Citations:
[2018] UKEAT 0255 – 17 – 1603
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Employment
Updated: 22 April 2022; Ref: scu.616881