Unfair Dismissal

An employee dismissed for leaving work and refusing to return because of COVID-19-related concerns was not automatically unfairly dismissed.

A failure to make reasonable adjustments as part of a dismissal process doesn’t mean that the dismissal itself is necessarily unfair.

An employee who requests voluntary redundancy does not necessarily have no reasonable prospects of success in a claim for unfair dismissal.

The dismissal of a care home employee for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19 was fair.

An employee was unfairly dismissed after raising health and safety concerns about working during lockdown.

An employee’s dismissal for using a grievance process in a frivolous and vexatious manner was fair.

An employee had not been automatically unfairly dismissed because of her employer’s refusal to allow her to work from home during the pandemic. Her belief that there were circumstances of serious and imminent danger was not objectively reasonable given that her employer had assessed the risks and addressed the need for increased levels of hygiene and social distancing.

The dismissal of an employee was fair because he’d acted in ‘wilful disregard’ of an anti-corruption policy, even though he’d not deliberately intended to breach the policy and had no corrupt intent.

An employee can bring a claim for automatic unfair dismissal if they are instructed to infringe their statutory rights, even if the infringement has not actually occurred.

A tribunal did not need to ‘look behind’ a final written warning to consider its fairness.

An email between an employer and its HR consultant was protected by litigation privilege despite indicating a pre-determined decision to dismiss.

Where a dismissal is because of an irretrievable breakdown in the employer/employee relationship, the failure to offer/carry out an appeal post-dismissal will not always render a dismissal unfair.

Up to date medical evidence is vital when defending the fairness of an ill-health capability dismissal, although only if it’s obtained before a dismissal.

An employee was fairly dismissed for some other substantial reason when he was charged with a criminal offence but never prosecuted.

The dismissal of an employee who remained abroad at the start of the pandemic was automatically unfair on health and safety grounds.

Departing from previous authority, the EAT has held that a constructive dismissal can amount to harassment under the Equality Act.

The dismissal of an employee who’d expressed concerns about commuting during COVID-19 and who asked to be furloughed was not automatically unfair.

An employee was unfairly dismissed for raising health and safety issues about lack of PPE and other workplace COVID-secure measures.

An incorporated collectively agreed term was not apt for incorporation into an individual employment contract so as to enable an employee to rely on a breach of it as giving rise to a constructive dismissal claim.

Where the actions of an employer amount to a fundamental breach of contract, nothing that the employer does after that point can cure that breach.