Dismissal and discrimination

Case 1: The facts

Ms Greaves was obliged under her contract to carry out stocktaking at evenings or weekends. When the annual stocktake came around, she told her employer she would be unable to work that weekend because she could not arrange childcare. She was dismissed for gross misconduct.

Greaves claimed that she had been unfairly dismissed, and that the requirement to work weekends was indirect sex discrimination.

The ruling

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that Greaves had been unfairly dismissed. However, the tribunal had not properly dealt with the employer's defence of justification; until it did so, it could not establish whether there had been discrimination.

Greaves's case was remitted for a re-hearing.

Banner Business Supplies v Greaves UKEAT/0420/04