Dismissed for taking a holiday

Case 1: The facts

Mr Brown wanted to take his holidays in July but could not get his manager's agreement to this. He took the holiday anyway and on return was dismissed for gross misconduct. Brown claimed that the dismissal was unfair.

The ruling

The EAT noted that Brown's contract said that holidays had to be agreed. However, it also said that anyone not having booked or agreed their holiday by a specified date had to take them the last week of July and first week of August. As it happened these indeed were the dates that Brown had taken. The EAT ruled that he had not taken the holidays in breach of his contract and that furthermore no where in the contract had it been made clear that an unauthorised absence would lead to dismissal. The dismissal for gross misconduct was therefore unfair.

George Ellison v Brown EAT/0338/03