Misconduct: Dismissal for disobeying unlawful instruction not necessarily unfair

In Farrant v Woodroffe School 8.10.97 EAT 1117/96, the EAT holds that a dismissal is not necessarily unfair where the reason for it was the employer's genuine but mistaken belief that the employee was refusing to obey an instruction falling within the scope of his contract of employment. The question of whether or not that instruction was lawful is a relevant but not decisive question when considering the reasonableness of the dismissal.