Dismissals due to third party pressure 


Third-party pressure can sometimes justify a fair dismissal, especially where the third party is the employer’s only or main client (Martin v JF X-Press EAT/0010/04, Greenwood v Whiteghyll Plastics Limited [2007] AER 111). Dismissal is likely to be unfair if the employer cannot show that it took all reasonable steps to mitigate the effects of the client’s demands, first by trying to persuade the client to change its mind (Bancroft v Interserve Facilities Management Limited [2012] UKEAT/0329/1312) and if that fails, by looking for alternative work in a different part of its business (Henderson v Connect South Tyneside Limited [2010] IRLR 468). 


In Bancroft, the EAT suggested that Interserve were at fault because they should have intervened much earlier to support their employee.