Employees who are dismissed because of their trade union membership or activities and/or because they have blown the whistle are able to claim that they have been automatically unfairly dismissed.
In a recent case, the EAT considered whether a Tribunal was right to order an employer to re-engage a former employee in whom they had lost trust and confidence and place them into a role for which they lacked the essential skills.
A recent decision shows that where there has been an irretrievable breakdown in relations between colleagues, an employer may be able to dispense with a formal dismissal process and still dismiss fairly.
In Lamonby v Solent University the Employment Tribunal had to consider whether it was fair to dismiss an employee who had made remarks which betrayed a tendency to stereotype according to race, even where such stereotypes were sometimes positive.
In the recent case of Royal Mail Group v Jhuti (Jhuti), the Supreme Court ruled that an employer who had been manipulated into dismissing an employee for a false reason was liable for unfair dismissal based on the hidden reason…