Unfair dismissal
This week's case of the week, provided by DLA Piper, concerns a school assistant who claimed that she was dismissed for whistleblowing after she went to the press over her treatment for telling parents that their child had been bullied.
This case concerns whether or not an employee was entitled to consider that his supervisor had sufficient authority to dismiss him.
The employment tribunal held that the claimant was unfairly dismissed for comments on Facebook about his workplace, although his compensation was reduced by 50%.
The employment tribunal held that the claimant was fairly dismissed after making threats on Facebook to a colleague who had reported him to the employer for his frequent references to his workplace as "Dante's Inferno".
The Court of Appeal has held that an employer's decision to start a second set of disciplinary proceedings after an employee has already been disciplined for the same offence does not automatically render a subsequent dismissal unfair.
The Court of Appeal has reiterated the general principle that it is legitimate for an employer to take into account a prior final written warning when deciding to dismiss an employee, provided that the warning was issued in good faith and was not manifestly inappropriate.
This employment tribunal decision demonstrates some of the difficulties that can arise when employers require staff to undergo drug testing.
The employment tribunal held that the claimant was unfairly dismissed for allegedly breaching the employer's policy prohibiting smoking in company vehicles.
This week's case of the week, provided by DLA Piper, covers constructive dismissal where there was more than one possible reason for the individual's resignation.
In The Manchester College v Hazel and another EAT/0642/11 & EAT/0136/12, the EAT upheld a ruling by the employment tribunal that dismissals as a result of post-TUPE-transfer harmonisation were automatically unfair because they did not constitute an ETO reason "entailing changes in the workforce".
HR and legal information and guidance relating to unfair dismissal.