United Kingdom Employment Appeal Tribunal

APPEARANCES

 

For the Appellant	MR W J SKINNER (A friend)


 


JUDGE BYRT QC: This is a preliminary hearing in the course of an appeal from the decision of the Industrial Tribunal sitting at Ashford in Kent on 20th December 1995, when they found unanimously that the applicant, now the appellant, had not been unfairly dismissed.

She had been employed by the respondents between November 1991 and July 1995. She was eventually dismissed and the Industrial Tribunal found the reason for the dismissal was lack of capacity or qualifications.

The fact is that in April 1995 she went off sick as a result of back trouble caused by an accident at work. On 28th June 1995 she was medically examined, and the conclusion of the doctors who examined her on that date, was that she would not be capable of lifting within a period of something like three months. As a result Mr Rees, a Manager with the respondents, wrote to the appellant on 4th July 1995 inviting her for a discussion about the implications of the medical reports. It would seem that as the appellant was unable to name the date upon which she would be able to return to work, Mr Rees decided that she had to be dismissed. Accordingly on 13th July 1995 she was dismissed.

Mr Skinner on behalf of the appellant, has made a number of points. One relates to the reasonableness of the decision of the employers to dismiss in the way they did in July, whereas the doctors were talking about the likelihood of this woman returning to full capacity by the end of September. He also refers to the lack of consultation, and the way it was dealt with by the Industrial Tribunal.

We think that, without making any further comments, these are matters which need to be further investigated at a full hearing before this tribunal. Accordingly, we give leave for this matter to proceed to a full hearing on those two aspects.