Procedural errors

Case 9: The facts

Stephen Evans was dismissed without his employer having applied its own dismissal procedure, which stated that harassment complaints had to be investigated by a trained independent person.

The ruling

The EAT commended the employer's policy but held that, where such a policy exists, the employer should not ignore a major procedural step without the "most compelling of reasons".

The EAT held that it was not in a position to decide whether the dismissal had been unfair, and remitted the case to the employment tribunal to consider whether the departure from the procedure was justified - and, if so, whether this made the dismissal unfair.

Evans v DSDC UKEAT/0796/03