Unfair dismissal: how tribunals approach dismissals for composite reasons (News, 23 January 2015)

Table of contents

• Impact of this case
• Relevant background law
• The facts and decision of the employment tribunal
• The EAT judgment

Article summary

In an unfair dismissal case, where the employer’s reason for dismissal is a composite of a number of conclusions about a number of different events, the employment tribunal must examine the whole of that reasoning. A tribunal must ask first what the reason was for the dismissal, and then deal with whether the employer acted reasonably or unreasonably by having regard to that reason: that is, the totality of the reason which the employer gives. EAT: Robinson v Combat Stress.