Automatically unfair dismissal

Case 3: The facts

Emmanuel Danlardy was employed for less than two months before being dismissed for lack of capability. He contended that he had been dismissed for asserting a statutory right - meaning that it was an automatically unfair dismissal for which he did not need the usual one-year qualifying service in order to be able to bring a tribunal claim.

Danlardy had been appointed to work a 28-hour week on a pro-rata salary, but believed he had been appointed on a full-time basis. His claim was based on his refusal to sign a contract saying otherwise.

The ruling

The Employment Appeal Tribunal set out the approach that a tribunal should take when faced with a claim based on assertion of a statutory right, involving three basic questions: Is it a relevant statutory right? Has the right been infringed? And was the claim of infringement made in good faith? (It does not matter whether the employee has such a right, only that they genuinely believe that they do.)

The tribunal had not gone through that process, so the case was sent back to it for reconsideration.

Danlardy v Southwark Race Equality Council UKEAT/0159/06