The absence of an appeal procedure does not of itself make a dismissal unfair, even in the case of dismissal for misconduct.
Lord Justice O’Donnell said: ‘There had been at one time at final stage of the procedure where the dismissal was referred to a panel consisting of two representatives of the employers and two representatives of the trade union. The Appellant’s trade union had however withdrawn from membership of the joint industrial Council for the rubber industry sometime before his dismissal. With this withdrawal the disputes procedure also disappeared. Negotiations were in progress at the time of the Appellant’s dismissal to create a new procedure but this had not been completed. The Tribunal came to the conclusion that there was no breach of procedure and went on ‘it might well have been very sensible for the Respondents to have themselves suggested that the dismissal should go to arbitration but that is perhaps a view based on hindsight.’ I am satisfied that the absence of an appeal or review would not in itself make a dismissal unfair nor do I think that an employer can be said to be unreasonable in failing to create some ad hoc appeal or review in the absence of agreement between him and the trade union. The absence of an appeal or review procedure is just one of the many factors to be considered in determining whether a dismissal is fair or unfair.’
Judges:
O’Donnell, Gibson LJJ
Citations:
[1981] IRLR 505
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Tran v Greenwich Vietnam Community Project EAT 5-Apr-2001
The applicant appealed a rejection of his claim for unfair dismissal. He claimed that the management committee of the organisation had both investigated the complaint and adjudicated upon it, and that the organization’s procedures did not allow for . .
Cited – Jackson v ICS Group of Companies Ltd EAT 22-Jan-1998
The claimant appealed against the dismissal of his unfair dismissal application. Not having two years continuous employment he had claimed the protection of section 100 as a whistleblower, but the Tribunal had found that there had been a Health and . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Employment
Updated: 29 April 2022; Ref: scu.183139
