Mr Kevin Lilly v Southend High School for Boys Academy Trust — 2026

The claimant brought an unfair dismissal claim after being dismissed for alleged misconduct. The respondent said the dismissal was fair because the reason related to conduct, and the tribunal considered whether that was a potentially fair reason and whether dismissal was fair within section 98(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996.

The tribunal found that dismissal was outside the band of reasonable responses. It took account of the claimant's length of service, the seriousness and impact of the allegations, the respondent's communications with him, the one-off nature and context of the incident, and whether the respondent had reasonably considered his possible medical, psychological, speech and language needs or communication differences.

The tribunal concluded that the claimant was unfairly dismissed by the respondent within section 98 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Remedy was not determined in the extracted judgment text.