In Newbound v Thames Water Utilities, the Court of Appeal upheld an ET decision that the dismissal of an employee for gross misconduct, even after a serious breach of health and safety rules (including failure to wear breathing apparatus in a sewer) was unfair.
Employers have traditionally felt relatively safe dismissing an employee on health and safety grounds, particularly as the sanctions for breach of health and safety for employers can be so severe (think high financial penalties and criminal records). Establishing therefore that a decision was reasonable in the circumstances did not cause employers much reason to lose sleep.
In Newbound, the CA attached significance to the evidence that there had been a lack of training in new procedures and that Mr Newbound had been treated differently to another employee who was not dismissed in similar circumstances.
The CA also approved the tribunal’s finding that Mr Newbound had a 34 year record with a clean disciplinary record. It was considered insufficient weight had been attached to this by the employer.
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