Consultation

Case 1: The facts

IT manager Mr Mallam was made redundant shortly after his employer appointed a new head of IT. Mallam had not applied for this job, having not known that his own was at risk. His managers had long been considering a reorganisation, and had discussed Mallam's work with him, but had not told him that he might lose his job. He said the lack of consultation made his redundancy unfair.

The ruling

The Employment Appeal Tribunal held that Mallam had been unfairly dismissed. Although there is no obligation on an employer to consult an employee about the commercial need for redundancies, in this case Mallam should have been made aware at an earlier stage that he was at risk of redundancy.

Air 2000 v Mallam UKEAT/0773/03