Unfair dismissal

New and updated

• Type:

  Employment law cases

  Case of the week: TUPE transfers

  This week's case of the week, provided by Covington & Burling, covers TUPE transfers.

• Date:

  26 February 2007

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Fixed-term contracts: Reinstatement after appeal does not extend fixed-term contract beyond original expiry date

  In Prakash v Wolverhampton City Council EAT/0140/06, the Employment Appeal Tribunal holds that where a fixed-term contractor's dismissal for misconduct was overturned by an appeal decided after the expiry date of the contract, the effect of the successful appeal was to reinstate the terms of the original contract. It could not extend the life of the contract beyond its expiry date.

• Date:

  16 February 2007

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Unfair dismissal compensation: Norton Tool not general authority for awarding more than actual loss

  In Burlo v Langley and another [2006] EWCA Civ 1778 the Court of Appeal holds that an employee's compensation for lack of notice was restricted to her actual loss where she would have been in receipt of statutory sick pay during the notice period.

• Date:

  14 February 2007

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Metrobus Ltd v Cook

  In Metrobus Ltd v Cook EAT/0490/06, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has held that an employment tribunal did not err in increasing the amount of unfair dismissal compensation by 40% where an employer had failed to follow the statutory disciplinary and dismissal procedure.

• Date:

  2 February 2007

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  TUPE case law update

  This article looks at some of the important judgments in the area of the transfer of undertakings over the past year.

• Date:

  19 January 2007

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Unfair dismissal: Covert recordings of disciplinary panel's private deliberations inadmissible

  In Chairman and Governors of Amwell View School v Dogherty EAT/0243/06, the Employment Appeal Tribunal holds that an employment tribunal was not entitled to admit as evidence in unfair dismissal proceedings recordings of a disciplinary panel's private deliberations.

• Date:

  29 December 2006

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Transfer of undertakings: 'ETO' defence does not apply to harmonisation involving no workforce changes

  In London Metropolitan University v Sackur and others EAT/0286/06, the Employment Appeal Tribunal has confirmed that standardisation of employees' terms is not of itself sufficient to give rise to an ETO defence.

• Date:

  1 December 2006

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Unfair dismissal/disability discrimination: Procedural flaws in disciplinary process not cured only by rehearing

  In Taylor v OCS Group Ltd [2006] IRLR 613 CA, the Court of Appeal holds that defects in the conduct of a disciplinary hearing are capable of being "cured" in an internal appeal even if it does not amount to a full rehearing of the issue. In addition, a deaf employee not given the opportunity to have an interpreter at his disciplinary hearing was not treated less favourably for a reason related to his disability.

• Date:

  1 December 2006

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Scope v Thornett

  In Scope v Thornett [2007] IRLR 155 CA, the Court of Appeal has stressed that employment tribunals are permitted to make reductions in the amount of compensation awarded for future loss of earnings where this involves speculation.

• Date:

  1 December 2006

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Bolton School v Evans

  In Bolton School v Evans [2007] IRLR 140 CA, the Court of Appeal has held that protection against a detriment for making a protected disclosure does not extend to dismissal for conduct that is designed to demonstrate that the belief in the wrongdoing is reasonable.