Employment Law – A couple of interesting results

Some recent cases have interesting points to bear in mind when dealing with or thinking about employment tribunals and claims.

For example –

Sweeney v DLA Piper Solicitors

The Judge commented that, regarding an incident of claimed sexual harassment, that she had “‘laughed it off’ at the time”.

This was not, and should not be, a justification for harassment, but should help the employer in situations where an employee claims harassment concerning an incident which at the time had not created “an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment”.

Your responsibility

If you become aware of any incident that could be considered to be harassment, it is important that you take action quickly to avoid claims against you. Possible actions to consider:

• Initiating grievance procedures on behalf of the victim,
• Initiating disciplinary procedures against those responsible
• Arranging additional training for managers / staff

County Court

An employee can take you to an employment tribunal for unfair or wrongful dismissal. If there is a breach of contract, they also have the option to sue before the County Court. This route is normally used when the value of the notice period is higher than the statutory cap applied in the Employment Tribunal, or where there is no claim for unfair dismissal.

The value of this claim has been limited to the expiry of the notice period, and/or where there are “stigma” damages.

However, the case of Edwards v Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust extended this rule to include not only the time a disciplinary procedure would have taken if done properly, but also covering losses sustained as a result of the breach of contract i.e. damage to the person’s career.

In this case, the employer failed to follow their own disciplinary procedure.

Your responsibility

• Follow your contractual disciplinary procedure
• If unsure, seek legal advice before embarking on the procedure

Reasonable Responses

The employment tribunal must look at any decision to dismiss within the context of the circumstances surrounding the action, including the conduct of the employee, and must satisfy itself as to whether the decision was within the range of reasonable responses.

Employment law is designed to prevent unreasonable action by employers, not to restrain employers from legitimate action.