EAT STRIKE-0UT WITHOUT HEARING EVIDENCE
An employer dismissed an employee from his job as a family support worker after learning that a District Judge hearing a case relating to contact with children had found that during a contact session the claimant had assaulted the child’s father following an altercation between them. This did not occur in the course of the Claimant’s employment, but when he was acting in a private capacity. The Respondent asserted this as a reason for dismissal (though on a fair reading of the ET3, it may rather have been that it thought the Claimant to have a propensity for violence). The EJ struck out the claim as having no reasonable prospect of success, on the basis that it was entitled without more to rely on the findings of the District Judge. He heard no evidence before ruling. To do so was held an error of law, given the approach to strike out which relevant authority demands (none of which was referred to by the Judge), and given that there were issues as to background facts and whether the employer had reached its decision based on the events of the contact session on its own, or only when taken together with other material which (it was to be suggested) did not on its facts support the decision.
Judges:
Langstaff P J
Citations:
[2012] UKEAT 0174 – 12 – 1810
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Employment
Updated: 09 November 2022; Ref: scu.466341