The High Court has upheld a breach of contract claim against a housing trust that demoted a Christian manager who said on Facebook that holding civil partnership ceremonies in churches is "an equality too far".
In Edwards v Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Botham v Ministry of Defence [2012] IRLR 129 SC, the Supreme Court held that the principle in Johnson v Unisys Ltd that the implied term of trust and confidence does not allow recovery of damages for loss arising from the manner of dismissal applies equally to alleged breaches of express contractual terms.
David Malamatenios and Georgina Kyriacou are partners, and Krishna Santra, Colin Makin and Sandra Martins are associates at Colman Coyle Solicitors. They round up the latest rulings.
The High Court has listed some of the factors that a court may take into account when determining whether or not a provision, for example a provision in a disciplinary procedure, is apt for incorporation into an employee's contract of employment.
This case demonstrates the importance of employers complying with the terms of contractual staff handbooks and dealing with grievance appeals properly.
The Court of Appeal has held that an employer in the financial sector that poached staff from a rival could not enforce dishonestly obtained forward contracts with employees who later decided not to move.
In Dunn and anor v AAH Ltd [2010] EWCA Civ 183 CA, the Court of Appeal held that an employee was guilty of gross misconduct in failing to report a serious financial risk faced by his employer to its parent company. His contract expressly required such a report to be made, and it was not sufficient that he had reported all relevant matters to his line manager.
In Malone and others v British Airways plc [2010] IRLR 431 HC, the High Court held that the provisions of a collective agreement purporting to set "minimum" cabin crew numbers for different routes and types of craft were not incorporated into individual employees' contracts of employment. In any event, an injunction would not be granted to restrain the employer from reducing cabin crew numbers below the levels specified, and, even if there had been a breach of contract, any award for damages would be for a nominal amount only.