Written reasons for dismissal: Employee must request written reasons

In Catherine Haigh Harlequin Hair Design v Seed the EAT holds that in order for an employee to be able to complain that the written reasons for dismissal given to her by her employer were "inadequate or untrue", those reasons must have been furnished in response to a specific request from the employee in question.

Miss Seed was summarily dismissed by the Catherine Haigh Harlequin Hair Design shop, on the ground that she had allegedly been "enticing clients away from the salon" - by offering to do hairdressing at their homes - in direct breach of the disciplinary rules contained in her contract of employment.