Dismissal
In Bournemouth University Higher Education Corporation v Buckland EAT/0492/08, the EAT held that the well-established contractual test for determining whether or not constructive dismissal has occurred should not be embellished by the introduction of the range of reasonable responses test, a concept that is properly confined to the law of unfair dismissal. In doing so, it declined to follow the EAT decisions in Abbey National plc v Fairbrother and Claridge v Daler Rowney Ltd.
In Rolls-Royce plc v Unite [2009] EWCA Civ 387 CA, the Court of Appeal held that a redundancy selection matrix set out in a 2003 collective agreement was not automatically rendered unlawful following the implementation of the age discrimination legislation in 2006.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held that an employer did not unfairly dismiss an employee when it failed to investigate in detail the nature of his misconduct in circumstances where he had admitted his guilt.
In Kirklees Metropolitan Council v Radecki [2009] IRLR 555 CA, the Court of Appeal held that the contract of an employee with whom the employer was negotiating a compromise agreement terminated on the date that the employer stopped paying the employee, even though at that point the draft agreement had not been executed by the parties.
In Ali v Birmingham City Council EAT/0313/08, the EAT held that an employee's unambiguous resignation was effective and could not be unilaterally withdrawn once it had been accepted by the employer. It is only in exceptional circumstances that words of resignation should not be taken at their face value
In Rolls-Royce v Unite [2008] EWHC 2420 HC, the High Court held that two collective agreements that set out an approach to redundancy giving points for length of service in the selection process were lawful under the age discrimination legislation.
In Claridge v Daler Rowney Ltd [2008] IRLR 672, the EAT held that, although it is for the tribunal to determine whether or not an employer has committed a repudiatory breach of contract, the employer's handling of the grievance procedure will amount to such a breach only where it fell outside the range of reasonable responses open to the employer.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held that an employee's admission of gross misconduct limited the need for a detailed investigation by her employer prior to dismissal.
In Capita Health Solutions v McLean and another [2008] IRLR 595, the EAT held that an employee's objection to becoming employed by the transferee did not have the effect of preventing the transfer of her contract of employment, as she had undertaken work for the transferee after the transfer date.
In Haine and another v Day [2008] IRLR 642, the Court of Appeal held that a protective award made after the employer company went into liquidation in respect of its failure to consult before making collective redundancies was a provable, and therefore potentially recoverable, debt.
Employment law cases: HR and legal information and guidance relating to dismissal.