A Headteacher v Essex County Council and 1 other — 2021

The claimant brought only a complaint of unfair dismissal after being summarily dismissed by Essex County Council following allegations that he had behaved inappropriately towards children. The claimant accepted that the respondent had a genuine belief in conduct amounting to a potentially fair reason for dismissal, so the tribunal focused on whether there were reasonable grounds, a reasonable investigation, and a reasonable procedure under section 98(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996.

The tribunal found that the respondent did not reasonably evaluate the evidence. It held that the decision-maker failed properly to consider the claimant's QC's critique of the reliability of the pre-ABE evidence, did not give the claimant an adequate opportunity to challenge the child protection expert's opinion evidence on veracity, and wrongly characterised the case as the claimant's word against the children's accounts despite extensive adult evidence relevant to whether the alleged events could have occurred.

The tribunal concluded that the dismissal was not based on reasonable grounds and/or was not the product of a reasonable investigation. The appeal did not cure those defects because the appeal officer conducted a review rather than reaching her own evaluation of the evidence. The tribunal also found that the respondent had not shown that a fair process could have led to a lawful dismissal for misconduct, and declined to make any Polkey or conduct reduction at this liability stage.