header-logo header-logo

Dismissed or not dismissed?

08 February 2013 / Peter Taheri
Issue: 7547 / Categories: Features , Disciplinary&grievance procedures , Employment
printer mail-detail

Has a recent High Court ruling created a new concept of accidental dismissal? Peter Taheri reports

In Smith v Trafford Housing Trust [2012] EWHC 3221 (Ch), the claimant, having been demoted, claimed breach of contract while remaining in the trust’s employment. He was awarded only £98, as the High Court held he was wrongfully dismissed. Can that be right, when the employer had not purported to dismiss and the employee never claimed constructive dismissal?

Establishing the Hogg principle

Practitioners are familiar with the concept of constructive dismissal: the employer commits a repudiatory breach of the employment contract, in response to which the employee resigns. Perhaps less everyday is Hogg v Dover College [1990] ICR 39, EAT, where the claimant’s unfair dismissal claim succeeded even though he was still in the respondent’s employ. Understanding Hogg is pre-requisite for a discussion of Smith.

In Hogg, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) found that the employee “was being told that his former contract was from that moment gone”. To the employer’s argument

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll