WM Morrison Supermarkets Plc v Talbot

EMPLOYMENT APPEAL TRIBUNAL 58 VICTORIA EMBANKMENT, LONDON EC4Y 0DS At the Tribunal On 21 February 1997 Before

MR JUSTICE KEENE : This is an employer's appeal against a decision by a majority of an Industrial Tribunal sitting at Leeds, a decision made on 12th January 1996, that the respondent had been unfairly dismissed.

However, he did not find these mitigating factors present in Mr Talbot's case or at least not present to the same degree. He regarded Mr Talbot's conduct on 25th July to be typical of past behaviour. There was no evidence of commitment to the company. Mr Talbot had made excuses for his conduct rather than expressing genuine regret, and there was not the record of long service present in Mr Johnson's case. Hence, the Transport Manager concluded that the two cases were distinct and should be treated differently.

There was then a further appeal which took place on 10th August 1995. This was heard by Mr Noone, the Deputy Warehouse and Distribution Controller. Again the respondent's case was put by his trade union representative, particularly on the basis of a comparison with Mr Johnson who had not been dismissed but again the appeal was dismissed. Mr Noone, in his decision, referred amongst other things to his belief that Mr Talbot's radio had been working, given the results of the tests, and to evidence of a lack of co-operation on calling in to the distribution centre in the past.

The letter from the Chairman of the Industrial Tribunal dated 14th January 1997, sent in response to a request from the President of the Employment Appeal Tribunal after hearing an application for the Chairman's Notes of Evidence, refers to certain items of evidence, apparently accepted as facts by the Industrial Tribunal. Apart from the test results on the radios of Mr Talbot and Mr Johnson, these facts were: