Contributory fault

Case 5: The facts

After being racially abused, bus driver Mr Davis got out of his cab to investigate possible damage to his bus. He was then attacked and abused again, and hit one of the perpetrators in self-defence.

Following an investigation, his employer concluded that Davis had chased after the man and hit him rather than acting in self-defence; it dismissed him for misconduct. A tribunal held that he had been unfairly dismissed.

The ruling

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) upheld the tribunal’s ruling; the evidence did not support the employer’s view that Davis had assaulted the passenger, so there were no reasonable grounds for it to hold this belief. But EAT also found that the tribunal had been right to reduce Davis’ compensation by 40% for contributory fault, on the grounds that he had contributed to the chain of events by getting out of his cab.