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Void dismissals

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18 October 2007 / Nicholas Dobson
Issue: 7293 / Categories: Features , Employment
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Can compensation be granted for a dismissal which never lawfully happened in the first place? Nicholas Dobson

In Monty Python’s dead parrot sketch, the customer had some difficulty in persuading the owner that the purchased Norwegian Blue parrot was an ex-parrot. A similar situation had arisen in respect of a void dismissal in the decision of the Privy Council on 23 July 2007 in McLaughlin v Governor of the Cayman Islands [2007] UKPC 50, [2007] All ER (D) 360(Jul).
The claimant, Dr McLaughlin, a well-qualified scientist in the Cayman Islands Government Service, was purportedly dismissed on 31 December 1998. It was common ground that the dismissal or purported dismissal was in breach of natural justice and the relevant statutory regulation and was therefore unlawful.

RESIDUAL LIFE

The claimant had applied unsuccessfully for judicial review—among other things for a declaration that the dismissal and the decision to do so were void and also for reinstatement. While the Court of Appeal of the Cayman Islands found that the decision to dismiss and the dismissal were void— surprisingly

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