Dismissal – Page 2 – Seán Crossan's Scots Law

I want to believe …

… well now Jordi Casamitjana can believe … officially. He has just won part of his Employment Tribunal case (Casamitjana v League Against Cruel Sports) which confirms that ethical veganism is a protected philosophical belief in terms of Sections 4 and 10 of the Equality Act 2010.

Please note, however, that the Employment Tribunal is yet to determine whether Mr Casamitjana was dismissed because of these protected beliefs – that is another matter.

A link can be found below to the Preliminary Judgement of the Employment Tribunal on the question of whether ethical veganism is a philosophical belief in terms of the Equality Act 2010:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5e3419ece5274a08dc828fdd/Mr_J_Casamitjana_Costa_v_The_League_Against_Cruel_Sports_-_3331129-18_-_Open_Preliminary_Hearing_Judgment___Reasons.pdf

Please also find a link below to the BBC News App about Tribunal’s decision:

Ethical veganism is ‘philosophical belief’

Ethical veganism is a “philosophical belief” and therefore protected by law, employment tribunal rules.

You’re never off duty …

Photo by thom masat on Unsplash

… certainly not when you’re a school teacher.

This is the lesson which a Scottish secondary teacher has learned to his cost. He was filmed by a pupil while drunk in the street wearing only his boxer shorts. Teacher Z (he remains anonymous) was charged with drunkenness and subjecting paramedics to abuse. Apparently, he did not inform his employer and, following a hearing before the General Teaching Council, he has been ruled unfit to continue practising as a teacher.

I often grimace when I hear someone trying to justify bad behaviour on the basis that it happened outside work. If I had a £20 note for each time I heard this remark …

Regular readers of this Blog will be well aware that employers are entitled to dismiss an employee who has committed an act of gross misconduct in terms of Section 98 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Such behaviour could include misconduct committed outside working hours.

Provided the employer follows the correct disciplinary procedures, the dismissal will almost certainly be regarded as a fair by an Employment Tribunal.

A link to the story on the BBC News App can be found below:

Teacher struck off after pupil filmed him wearing just boxer shorts