Can a dismissal be fair without an appeal hearing? 

Employees with two year’s continuous service have the right not to be unfairly  dismissed (and no length of services is required in cases of ‘automatically unfair’ dismissals). But can a dismissal be deemed fair with an appeal hearing?

The law on unfair dismissal 

To avoid a tribunal finding of unfair dismissal the employer must show three things: 

• A potentially fair reason to dismiss; 
• That a fair procedure was followed; 
• That the dismissal was fair in all the circumstances of the case. 

Many employees are now aware of the importance of following this second requirement – the fair procedure – and will offer the employee the right to appeal.  

In the vast majority of cases this will certainly be the right course of action to take. In the case of Moore v Phoenix Product Development Limited the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruled that the dismissal was fair without an appeal hearing. However, the EAT decision should not be taken as a green light to dispel with appeal hearings. The facts in Moore will not fit with most dismissals. 

Moore V Phoenix Product Development Ltd 

The claimant was an inventor who stepped down as CEO of the Respondent company. ?He stayed on as director and employee but was unable to accept that he no longer led the Company.  

Working relations broke down irretrievably and he was dismissed under the category of ‘some other substantial reason’. He was not offered a right to appeal his dismissal as the respondent believed the appeal would be futile. Mr Moore lodged an unfair dismissal claim. He lost.    

Both the tribunal and the EAT agreed with the respondents that an appeal would have been futile. The respondent was able to show evidence of the claimant’s foul and abusive emails, his confrontational behaviour and that he was entirely responsible for the breakdown in relationships.