Employment Law Cases

Disciplinary process and double jeopardy

It was not unfair to dismiss an employee after reopening a previously concluded disciplinary process that had led to a final written warning.

Marital status discrimination

A director who was dismissed while divorcing her husband, a director at the same company, was not subjected to marital discrimination.

COVID-19: dismissal for refusal to return to work

An employee dismissed for leaving work and refusing to return because of COVID-19-related concerns was not automatically unfairly dismissed.

PCP: disability and non-compliance

It was not a reasonable adjustment simply to slot a disabled employee into a new structure as part of a redundancy exercise.

Internal appeals and 'vanishing' dismissals

A successful appeal against a dismissal will automatically result in reinstatement back into employment unless the employee objectively and unequivocally withdraws their appeal against dismissal before the appeal is decided. This remains the case even where the employee expressly says to the appeal decision maker that they do not want to return to work.

Redundancy consultation and selection criteria

An employer acted unfairly when it did not consult on redundancy selection criteria, where the sole selection criteria inevitably led to a redundancy pool of one.

Discrimination and 'gender critical' philosophical belief

A barristers’ chambers discriminated against a barrister due to her protected belief that a woman is defined by her sex (a ‘gender critical’ belief).

Whistleblowing: relevance of conduct when making protected disclosure

An employee was not automatically unfairly dismissed after making protected disclosures because her dismissal was for conduct reasons that were separable from the disclosures themselves.

Dismissal for failure to disclose bankruptcy

An employee was fairly dismissed for failing to disclose his bankruptcy, despite the absence of an express contractual requirement or policy requiring him to do so.

Benefits under long-term sickness scheme

An employer was liable to pay the level of income protection payments set out in an offer letter and summary of benefits provided by the employee’s original employer prior to a TUPE transfer, even though those benefits were no longer covered under the employer’s insurance policy.

Holiday pay for those with irregular hours

Entitlement to holiday pay under the Working Time Regulations 1998 does not need to be pro-rated for part-year workers

Philosophical belief: employee's refusal to use preferred pronouns in the workplace

An employee’s belief that a person cannot change their sex/gender at will, and his lack of belief in ‘transgenderism’, were protected under the Equality Act 2010. However, a tribunal had correctly held that his employer’s response to his refusal to use transgender service users’ preferred pronouns was not direct or indirect discrimination or harassment.

Justifying discrimination arising from disability

A failure to give a disabled employee a reasonable trial in a role at a different location meant that the employer could not show that her dismissal was objectively justified.

Constructive dismissal and the fundamental breach

A fundamental breach of contract can be established even where the employer’s actions do not indicate an intention to end the employment relationship.

Unlawful inducements and collective bargaining

An employer’s imposition of a pay award, at a time when negotiations with the union were stalled, was an unlawful inducement.

COVID-19: redundancy, furlough, consultation, and Facebook

A complete lack of any consultation or selection process, allied to notifying staff of redundancies via a Facebook post, led to unfair dismissal.

Reasonable adjustments and fairness of dismissal

A failure to make reasonable adjustments as part of a dismissal process doesn’t mean that the dismissal itself is necessarily unfair.

Voluntary redundancy and unfair dismissal

An employee who requests voluntary redundancy does not necessarily have no reasonable prospects of success in a claim for unfair dismissal.

Resignation, dismissal and PILONs

Where an employee resigns and the employer brings forward the termination date by exercising its right to make a contractual payment in lieu of notice, there is no dismissal.

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