Mr David Doonan v The Shrewsbury Christian Centre Association (The Art) — 2022

The claimant, Mr David Doonan, was employed by The Shrewsbury Christian Centre Association as a manager from April 2019 until 15 October 2019. His ET1 originally pleaded unfair dismissal and failure to pay notice pay. After further and better particulars, he advanced an automatic unfair dismissal case based on health and safety complaints, relying on sections 101(A) and 101(C) of the Employment Rights Act 1996.

The tribunal accepted that a number of the matters raised by the claimant were health and safety related, including requests for additional security, a replacement door with safety glass, decking in the courtyard, a washing machine and weatherproof cabinet, and concerns about a dog being a trip hazard. It found, however, that the respondent had supported or implemented several of those measures, and that there was no evidence that those requests were used as reasons for dismissal.

By contrast, the tribunal found that concerns about the claimant's conduct and approach to management developed over time, particularly from September and October 2019. It relied on emails and witness evidence referring to perceived problems with people skills, attitude, communication, and behaviour, and concluded that the respondent's concerns were about conduct rather than the claimant's health and safety activity.

The tribunal held that the claimant had not proved, on the balance of probabilities, that a prohibited reason under section 101(A) or 101(C) was the principal reason for dismissal. It therefore found that the dismissal for gross misconduct was not automatically unfair and dismissed the automatic unfair dismissal claim.