Criminal charges

Case 5: The facts

Local council employee Gloria Foster was dismissed following allegations that her husband had made false benefit claims in which she was implicated. The council issued criminal proceedings, but refused to delay Foster's disciplinary hearing until after the trial. The criminal charges against Foster were later dropped, and her husband was acquitted.

The ruling

The Employment Appeal Tribunal held that Foster's dismissal had been both substantively and procedurally unfair. As the council was bringing the criminal proceedings, it could not be impartial in the disciplinary hearing; the hearing should therefore have been adjourned until after the criminal trial.

Foster v Brighton and Hove City Council UKEAT/0737/04