The Court of Appeal has held that the summary dismissal of Sharon Shoesmith, during the fallout from the death of "Baby P", was unlawful. In finding that she was entitled to a decision on her judicial review application, the Court held that her alternative employment tribunal remedy was not "equally convenient and effective".
Claire Benson is managing associate and Helen Corbett, Sinead Jones, Helen Ward and Tori O'Neil are associates at Addleshaw Goddard LLP. They round up the latest rulings.
The employer in this case ran into trouble when it dismissed an employee after he refused to work on some days during the company's annual shutdown, because it did not make clear that the outcome of his refusal could be dismissal.
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 the employment tribunal was wrong to assess compensation for a banker who was unfairly dismissed and suffered race discrimination on the basis that he would be unlikely to find an equivalent job again.
The employer in this case just about got away with using secretly recorded CCTV footage to dismiss five employees who were caught urinating on company property on numerous occasions, in a two-to-one majority decision in the employment tribunal.