Unfair dismissal
Chris Cook is partner and head of employment and Keely Rushmore is senior associate at SA Law. They round up the latest rulings.
An employment tribunal has held that an experienced employee should have appreciated the seriousness of breaching his employer's hygiene rules and it was appropriate for the employer to dismiss him.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has held that the "Acas code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures" does not apply to dismissals for some other substantial reason (SOSR) due to a breakdown in working relationships.
In Novakovic v Tesco Stores Ltd EAT/0315/15, the EAT held that the employment tribunal failed to consider all relevant evidence when finding that the employee had affirmed the employer's repudiatory breach of contract.
An employment tribunal has held that an employer fairly dismissed an employee for using a racist term in the presence of white colleagues. The tribunal was unimpressed with the claimant's arguments that he did not realise anyone was listening, did not intend to offend, and the word is "street talk" where he lives.
In Morgan v Royal Mencap Society, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that an employment tribunal was wrong to strike out a whistleblowing claim on the basis that an employee's complaint about cramped working conditions was not "in the public interest". Naomi Clarkson explains this recent employment case.
Beth Staniland is a trainee solicitor, and Emma Cousins, Ciara Jenkins, Iain Naylor and Lucy Sorell are associates at Addleshaw Goddard LLP. They round up the latest rulings.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has held that the dismissal of a Christian employee because of her refusal to end her marriage with a convicted sex offender was indirect religious discrimination.
A manager who refused to take a "for cause" drug test was fairly dismissed because his employer was entitled to expect him to set an example for other staff, according to an employment tribunal.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has considered the fairness of a dismissal for uploading obscene material onto a work cloud storage account, when the employee argued that password sharing was "widespread" in his workplace.
HR and legal information and guidance relating to unfair dismissal.