Workplace Report December 2005

Law - Tribunal procedures

Evidence of dismissal

Case 5: The facts

Mr Mack, a sanitation manager, was dismissed following allegations of irregularities in the processing of payments. A tribunal found that senior management had been hostile towards Mack, largely because he had worked his way up from the shop floor and "his face did not fit". It held that he had been unfairly dismissed.

The ruling

The Employment Appeal Tribunal held that there was plenty of evidence to uphold the tribunal's decision, even if the tribunal had failed to refer to one piece of evidence. There was nothing to support the allegations of Mack's misconduct, it said, and managers had already decided to dismiss him.

Bernard Matthews v Mack UKEAT/0177/05