Securicor Ltd v Smith: CA 1989

When the tribunal looks at the decision by the employer to dismiss, it should ask not what its own opinion was but whether the employers response was within the band of reasonable responses open to in acting on its findings. Where two employees are dismissed for the same incident and one is successful on appeal but the other is not, in determining the fairness of the latter’s dismissal, the proper question is whether the employer had consciously sought to distinguish between the two cases and, if he had, whether he had done so on rational grounds.

Citations:

[1989] IRLR 356

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedLondon Borough of Harrow v Cunningham EAT 2-Nov-1995
The council appealed a finding that the claimant had been unfairly dismissed. He worked in the Cleansing Department, but took on additional private work in refuge disposal in breach of his contract. A co-worker who had done the same was not . .
CitedEpstein v Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead EAT 15-Nov-2007
EAT Unfair dismissal – Reasonableness of dismissal
Dismissal by Employment Tribunal of Appellant lifeguard’s claim for unfair dismissal challenged, because the Tribunal is said to have erred in not . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Employment

Updated: 07 May 2022; Ref: scu.276831