Damages: Johnson v Unisys does not apply to breaches of express terms
This report relates to 1 case(s)
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Edwards v Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust [2010] IRLR 702 CA (1 other report)
The Supreme Court has overturned this Court of Appeal decision in Edwards v Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Botham v Ministry of Defence [2012] IRLR 129 SC, holding that employees may not recover damages in civil courts for loss suffered as a result of a breach of their contract of employment in relation to the manner of their dismissal unless the loss can be said to precede and be independent of the dismissal.
In Edwards v Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust [2010] IRLR 702 CA, the Court of Appeal held that breach of the express terms of a disciplinary procedure gave the employee the right to sue for damages, and that such damages were not, in principle, limited to either the notice period or the time that it would have taken for the procedure to have been conducted properly.
Key points
- Where a claimant has been dismissed in breach of express contractual terms providing for particular disciplinary procedures to be followed, there is no principle of law preventing the claimant from suing in contract in respect of the breach and recovering damages flowing from the breach.
