Dismissal
Sinead Jones is an associate, and Phil Dupres and Beckie Howlett are trainee solicitors at Addleshaw Goddard. They round up the latest rulings.
The Court of Appeal has held that an NHS trust's decision to dismiss a doctor, which made it more difficult for him to practise in his chosen profession, did not engage his right to a fair and public hearing under the European Convention on Human Rights.
In CF Capital plc v Willoughby [2011] EWCA Civ 1115 CA, the Court of Appeal held that a letter of dismissal was effective notice to terminate the employee’s contract, even though it was based on a mistaken understanding that the employee had agreed to the termination. The “special circumstances” exception to the normal operation of such a notice did not apply, so attempts to retract the dismissal did not alter the position.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has affirmed the employment tribunal's decision that an employee who was unfairly dismissed because the employer believed his prison sentence frustrated his contract of employment was guilty of contributory conduct.
Georgina Kyriacou and David Malamatenios are partners and Sandra Martins, Colin Makin and Krishna Santra are associates at Colman Coyle Solicitors. They round up the latest rulings.
A Northern Ireland industrial tribunal has provided a useful example for employers of circumstances in which it can be fair to dismiss an employee for offensive comments made about a work colleague on Facebook.
Dinu Suntook, Cane Pickersgill and Poppy Fildes are all associates at Addleshaw Goddard. They round up the latest rulings.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held that employees who resigned after being faced with a change of place of work to a different part of London because of a TUPE transfer were constructively dismissed.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held that the dismissal of employees transferred to a company that engaged individuals only under a franchise agreement could amount to an economic, technical or organisational reason (ETO) for dismissal entailing changes to the workforce.
The employer in this case fell into the trap of assuming that, as long as it waited for a while (one year in this case) after a TUPE transfer, it could detrimentally alter the contractual benefits of employees who had transferred, in a bid to harmonise its workforce's terms and conditions.
Employment law cases: HR and legal information and guidance relating to dismissal.