Alleged contributory conduct towards his dismissal on the part of an employee may be considered by a Tribunal even if the employer had put up a bogus reason for the dismissal.
Kilnour-Brown J said: ‘In our view the proper approach is to decide first what was the real reason for dismissal and then to see whether the employee’s conduct played any part at all in the history of events leading to dismissal. In some cases, set against the real reason, it may be apparent that the employee’s conduct, even if reprehensible, was of no relevance whatsoever and made no impact on the situation. In the present case the employers made great use of the employee’s conduct in the process of dismissal. They had every justification for so doing, for the conduct was extremely reprehensible. The employee’s conduct certainly contributed to his dismissal in the sense that it was a factor in the minds of the employers. Put another way, the real reason for dismissal was not exclusive of all other matters and a bogus reason does not necessarily shut out the employer completely if there was material to support the reason relied upon. We conclude, therefore, that the employee’s conduct ought to be considered not only with reference to incompetence but also with reference to misconduct. In our view the weight to be given to the employee’s conduct ought to be decided in a broad common sense manner.’
Judges:
Kilnour-Brown J
Citations:
[1978] ICR 89
Cited by:
Cited – Swallow Security Services Ltd v Millicent EAT 19-Mar-2009
EAT UNFAIR DISMISSAL: Contributory fault
The employers dismissed the employee after a bogus redundancy exercise, after she had knowingly taken paid holiday in excess of her holiday allowance and failed to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Employment
Updated: 02 May 2022; Ref: scu.323743