Case report round-up: Demotion for Facebook posts was repudiatory breach of contract

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Demotion for Facebook posts was repudiatory breach of contract In Smith v Trafford Housing Trust [2013] IRLR 86 HC, the High Court held that an employee did not breach his employer's code of conduct by expressing his views on gay marriage on Facebook. The employer was not therefore contractually entitled to demote him. However, since the wrongful imposition of a new contract amounted in law to a wrongful dismissal, damages were limited to loss of earnings during the notice period.
Fairness of dismissal: Range of reasonable responses test is compatible with art.8 In Turner v East Midlands Trains Ltd [2013] IRLR 107 CA, the Court of Appeal held that the "range of reasonable responses" test, the long-standing approach to the assessment of the fairness of a dismissal, does not require adjustment even where art.8 of the European Convention on Human Rights is engaged. The existing approach is sufficiently nuanced and flexible to be compatible.

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